The Last Night
by ZupertrixCinema
Summary: Takes place 50 years before Twilight. Finally getting into my own plot. Mostly Alice/Bella, slight Jasper/Edward. Femmeslash. M but really could be T I suppose. Slight AU of some characters Charlie .
1. Chapter 1: Alice Caught Off Guard

Alice/Bella Fanfiction

**A/N: I do not own Twilight. I tried not to copy anything that I've read but if I did please let me know. Starts out way before Twilight (like 50 years not exactly sure) with a twist but has similar events once in. Enjoy! **

**Alice's POV most of the time, haven't decided if I'll change it later or not though. Rated M in later chapters. Homosexual Relationships. And that's all that will be said about that.**

The Last Night by SwedFacepainter

Chapter 1 – Alice Caught Off guard

1947

Alice's POV:

Something is going on and for the first time I have no idea what it is. Jasper, my soul mate and lover, is acting very oddly. I can't find out what's going on like I usually can. The stress is making it so I can't see into the future on anything that involves him or Edward. That is very odd. My gut is telling me that something bad is going to happen.

Jasper and I are new to the Cullen family. We met them travelling and they say that they are on their way back to Forks. We've been with the Cullens for a few years and could be considered part of the family.

"Alice, love, can I talk to you?" Jasper questions as I continue to think of previous events while on a run after hunting.

"Of course, Jazz," I answer, curious. We both continue running. I love to run. Nothing gave me more of a rush other than being with Jasper.

"I think I'm gay," he blurts out after a little difficulty. I stop immediately. I felt dizzy from the suddenness of it and also probably from what I'd just heard. I knew that I heard right but yet I found myself asking him to repeat himself.

"I'm gay. Although I do love you, I don't think I can love you the way you love me," he continued. My head was spinning. How could I have missed this? Why hadn't I foreseen this? I fell to my knees. I felt his arms steady my fall. I gaze directly at his hand on my shoulder. Anger flooded my body.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Let GO," I yell at him.

"Alice I –," he starts.

"No, no, no, no, no. Don't talk to me. How can you do this to me? How could you go this long without telling me?" I yell even louder, becoming shrill.

"Alice I didn't really know until a few months ago. I wasn't hiding it from you. I just didn't know until now," he explains. It sounded like there was more to tell but I didn't want to hear it. I try to see into the future so he wouldn't have to catch me off guard again. I hated this. It sucks not knowing what's going to happen.

"Who have you fallen in love with?" I ask. I could see where this was going without my talent's help.

"What . . . I haven't . . .," he started multiple times. He may have been good at lying like the rest of us but this time it was easy to tell that he was.

"Tell me if you want to spare me any more pain," I force. I had to know. He looks at me sadly.

" . . . Edward," he mumbled. I inhaled sharply.

Edward was "flamingly" gay put simply. Although I found it odd that someone from my era was such I had no problem with it. Edward was, I mean is a good guy. I can see why Jasper fell for him. I just thought that we were soul mates. I thought I was everything to him. I just thought I was all he needed. I could never love another man like I had Jasper.

"Alice . . .," he started.

"Just go. I can't look at you right now," I mumble but knew he heard me. I hear his footsteps fade slowly at first and then was gone with the brush of the leaves. I lie back onto the ground and look up at the sky.

I thought I found the one I was looking for. I was ready to love him for all eternity. How can I go on after finding that my one true love has relinquished my love for that of another?

I had no desire to move from that spot. I don't know how long I lay there. It was a few days at least. I remember seeing the sun rise and fall a few times. I also began to feel the burn at the back of my throat signaling my thirst forcing its ugly head back into my life. I hate that burn. It reminds me of how I would have to live for eternity with this loss. But then again I like how it was the first time that I felt something in days. I guess it's true that it's better to feel pain than nothing.

I still lay there with my thirst growing ever stronger. I try to just let my animal instinct take over from where I was but found that I couldn't let myself give in to it. I fear after two more days of the constant burning that I would begin to deteriorate or at the very least have permanently burned my throat.

Neither of these things happened unfortunately. I hear footsteps and smell the scent of someone familiar. I still don't have the motivation to confirm what I knew was true.

Rosalie was leaning over me. She is so beautiful. The essence of beauty. It doesn't bother me. She suffers too. I look into her eyes with no emotion.

"Alice sweetie, you have to get up. It's been over a week. Have you even hunted?" she asks her voice full of concern. Though she wasn't very affectionate, I know that she cares for me and hates to see me like this.

I don't want to cause any unnecessary pain to my new family but I can't pretend everything is fine this soon. I have all eternity to suffer. Can't I have a couple weeks to just lie here?

My body told me "No you can't, get your ass up and kill something". I move from my position for the first time in 9 days. I was weak from my incredible thirst and I heard a few snaps from various bones that were out of shape.

Rosalie places one hand on my back and the other under my right arm. With her help I manage to get to my feet.

"No I haven't hunted since. I'm sorry if I made you worry," I finally answer.

The sweet smell of the blood of a herd of deer came to my nostrils and I bolt in their direction. The familiar dilation of my pupils gives me a clear view already. I leap toward the largest buck and snap its neck. I drank viciously. It was lifeless all too soon. I flinch as I smell the survivors heading east. I drank four more large bucks dry before I was in control again.

I collapse and begin to cry my invisible tears. I felt arms descend on me trying to comfort me but there could be no comfort now that I no longer held his heart.


	2. Chapter 2: Attempts to Kill a Vampire

**A/N: As said before I do not own twilight. Thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!**

Chapter II: Attempts to Kill a Vampire

1957

APOV:

_The room is dark except for a light that emerges from under what I can only guess is a door on the other side of the room. My bare flesh is strapped to a cold metal table. I breathe softly. That along with my faint heartbeat is all that echoes through the room. I have been there since the last I could remember. It feels like I will be trapped in this hell hole for all eternity. Time has no meaning because somehow through all this pain my body continues to live. How I wish that I could just die once and for all._

_A man in white opens the door and approaches me. _

"_Well hello, Alice. How are you doing today?" he asks sounding rather pleased with himself. I turn my head toward the dark wall, momentarily blinded by the unfamiliar light. _

"_Aw don't be like that. You know I only do it because I love you right," he mocks sadness. I somehow know that no matter what I say that it will end with the same result, so I say nothing._

_He pulls something out of his pocket. In the next second, a surge of unbelievable pain is sent through my entire body via my spinal cord. I feel my nerves seeming to be fried on impact. Though I am screaming, my lips tilt up into a smile as I feel this will be the end of all this torture. I am submerged in white light._

I shake my head from side to side to try and erase what I just saw. It proves to be of no use. It has been 10 years since my love Jasper left me which was followed in suit by the appearance of occasional visions from my past. I have no idea why they just started to happen and neither does Carlisle. He says that my mind is finally just trying to accept it or something along those lines.

And of course there are never good visions, just ones that add to the pain. The only good thing is that for those few minutes I feel something again. I look as if I have just had a seizure after the visions. After the first few, everyone came into the room and wondered what had happened. But after those only Rose came in to make sure I didn't cause too much damage to the objects around me, if she came in at all.

I begin to numb myself again. I need to feel something. Anything at all. I rush down to the garage and slip into my yellow Corvette. I back out of the garage almost before the garage door is all the way up. I floor the gas pedal as soon as I hit the main road.

Within the hour I am in Portland. I heard that there has been recent activity of a large number of newborns. I better take advantage of it before the Volturi come to silence them. It shouldn't be too hard to find them. It is midnight and they are bound to be running the streets by now.

I could smell something that wasn't human. I caught a glance and saw the piercing blood red eyes from a few yards away. No I need a few, maybe even a dozen, to make sure this was done and over with. I ran with the newborn still on my tail. It was fast but predictable as Jasper used to always say.

I continue running throughout the city as curious newborns were drawn to the activity. After a half hour I gather about 9 newborns. It was getting harder to run from them as they begin to learn my tricks.

There was a parking lot clear of any cars. I found my graveyard. I stop and as soon as I turn around they were upon me sinking their teeth in all over my body. The pain felt refreshing.

With each new indentation into my flesh I release a sighed yell from my lips. My body still felt the need to yell even though it is what I wanted in the first place. I had to clasp my arms desperately to my sides so they would not defend me.

However in the enjoyment of my pain I was disappointed as all the newborns turn away from me and had a new interest. I open my eyes.

They were being attacked on all sides by all the members of the Cullen clan. I watch in horror.

"What are you doing here? I didn't want you to come. Just let me end my suffering and yours. I don't want any harm done to you for me. I'm not worth it," I yelled at them. They all ignore me and focus on the newborns.

I ran off back to my Corvette. The pain of dozens of fresh bite marks scarred into my flesh. Now I would have scars like the ones Jasper did when one looks closely. Yet another reminder of the one I could not have. I would have to find a new way if I was really going to finish it.

Why had they followed me? Why didn't they just let me finish it? Why did they have to be heroic?

I thought about it. _Because anything less than that and you wouldn't have become so close to them in the first place._ I hate how I reject their love for me. They keep fighting for me. They just want me to be happy again. I just can't do that.

One Month Later

"DAMN IT," I yell at the top of my lungs. Another stupid vision. Why can't it even be good? Why do I get these damn things that never give me any good glimpses of my past? Nothing that can help ease the pain of the present.

I hate having these blasphemous reminders. It always comes up after I get myself worked up over Jasper. He's not worth it. Well he is but not in the way I keep thinking of it. Why do I put everyone through this? I need to stop these episodes.

Rose did not appear after this one either. Everyone had gone out hunting. I could no longer force myself to go when the rest of the family did. They tried to convince me to change my mind but realized after the first 3 tries that I was not changing my mind and gave up.

Maybe I should just find a way that I could no longer be in the picture?

If I want to do this I would have to do it quick or otherwise Edward would soon be on to me.

I went downstairs and out the front door. I blew up a gust of leaves as I flew into the forest. I went deep in to it; farther than I had ever gone on a hunting trip. I look at the trees and bushes as I pass, seeing every individual leaf swaying lightly in the wind until I pass it. The smells were beautiful and did not bring any thoughts to mind other than what they smell of. It wasn't intoxicating or sweet, it was just peaceful.

When I decide that I had gone far enough I stop. I looked at the trees around me. I pulled my arm back and with little effort I sent the tree nearest me tumbling over. I broke several more from their roots before I was satisfied.

I lay them into a pile after breaking up the huge trunks into somewhat smaller pieces. I then went about gathering several thousands of leaves from the ground and sprinkled them over the logs. I held myself back from the odd but tempting urge to jump in the pile. After I was content with the size of the mound of wood I pull a small cylinder out of my pocket. It contains all I need to finish this.

With a light flick of my thumb, I had my final ingredient. I leaned down to my mound and placed my hand close to the leaves. I grinned to myself as the mound caught aflame. The orange yellow flames soon dance until they were well above my head.

I feel the irresistible warmth upon my face. I don't realize when I start to walk toward it but my smile only grows as the intensity of the flames grows as well.

I am suddenly tackled away from my escape and forced roughly into the ground by my assailant. Two more traitors appear and circle my beautiful flames at an incredible speed until the flames had no more oxygen to feed off and die away.

The one holding me down is unmistakable. His scent was the one I had fallen asleep to, so many nights, so long ago.

In that moment I think that I could've just died from sadness if it were possible. I begin to scream. My holder would not release me however. I struggle desperately to get away from his tight but familiar grasp. He allows me to turn over but grabs my wrists (I'm guessing so I wouldn't punch him).

I stop my screaming as my eyes fell onto his.

I look into those eyes that had become so unfamiliar. They were filled with sadness, regret, and guilt. But strangely enough, even at that moment, I could see the love that was there as well. He may have regretted hurting me. He may have even felt that it was his fault that I continue to try and put my life to an end but I knew right then that he never regretted picking Edward. He loves Edward. He couldn't have made me happy because he wouldn't have been happy with me.

He felt my realization. He moves back and let go of my wrists slowly. But before he started to get up off the ground, I wrapped my arms around him. He places his arms around me. He was no longer the familiar vampire that I fell in love with. He was now Edward's and I think I was finally ok with that.

We sit hugging for a few minutes. The others have gone to give us the very overdue talk that we needed.

"I'm glad you're happy. Even if it isn't with me," I say still leaning against his chest.

"I'm glad you're still here. There's no need to inflict anymore scars. Just give it time. You will find happiness again because you are indeed more than worth it," he whispers, his cool breath flowing past my ear.

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**A/N: Ok So Alice is the emo one. She is finally moving on. Reviews always appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3: Release

**A/N: I do not own Twilight or the characters. I just like to mess with them. Enjoy!**

Chapter 3 - Release:

2003

APOV:

So we are back in the quaint little town of Forks, Washington. The past is all but forgotten for the most part. There is always that edge in the air but it was to be expected. The past may be pushed out of the conscious part of our mind but the scars remain in the unconscious.

I shower and I am reminded of that first attempt. I shudder as the water glistens over the dozens of scars from the newborns. My fingers graze over the slightly raised skin, outlining them. It reminds me. I am reminded that I should never do that again so as not to sadden my family anymore than I already have. I am reminded of how I felt and how I still wish I could've just stopped my life there. I am reminded that I'm not sure if I'll ever be happy again. Every shower, every morning, every day.

I wear my mask of the happy little pixie known as Alice and watch the others in their happiness. It doesn't bother me that much anymore. But every once in a while I get hit with a wave of it and Jasper comes to make sure I'm not trying to do anything that I shouldn't again.

School starts today. Yet again. I can't imagine how many times I have already gone to high school. I would guess around 20 or 30 times. I'm not even sure why we go. We were already here once before about 50 years ago. Once everyone had died out or left this eternally rainy small town we came back again.

However boring the place is I am going to make the best of it. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually find something of interest this time around.

No bad visions or visions of any kind have happened for a couple weeks. I'm not too bothered by it but I will be if I don't see something soon.

We go to school in Edward's silver Volvo. It's the nicest car on the lot without a doubt. I am hit by the various human scents. I have no desire to drink any of their blood. I don't even have to try to contain myself. The day is boring. It's the start of another repeat of basic information. It changes every couple of decades but is basically the same.

I don't want to go home. I stop by the car seeing the others were already there.

"You can go home without me. I think I'm going to go to the cliff," I direct it towards everyone.

"Ok. . ." everyone says.

"Are you alright?" Jasper asks slightly by feeling my lack of interest in anything. I try to change my mood so he does not worry.

"I promise. Everything is fine. I just want to go think a little," I answer.

He nods. Everyone gets in the car. I walk at human pace until I hit the woods and then run a couple dozen miles to the shoreline. I inhale deeply enjoying being able to run without being reminded of him for the first time. My place. My escape. My release.

Bella's POV:

Well this is just perfect. I knew this would happen. I could feel it. Well back to Forks. I guess it isn't so bad and definitely better than being around the new love birds - Renee and Phil. I'm glad she's happy but it just reminds me of what I don't have. It'll be better at Charlie's. He's still alone.

I only bring two suitcases. He still has my room set up for me from a couple years ago. In a way it'll be nice to see Charlie again. We were always very similar.

With that thought I ease into sleep in my chair . . .

_I am walking along in a forest. There is a burning flame towards the left. I turn and am drawn to it. I slowly and cautiously approach it. There is someone sitting on the other side of the fire._

_Excuse me. Excuse me. A voice emerges from the other side._

"Excuse me, miss. I'm sorry but your flight is over. You probably want to get off," says a flight attendant politely. She is very pretty. She kind of fits the stereotype and I can imagine her getting pulled into the bathroom of the plane and "bumping ugly" with some lawyer or CEO.

"Oh well thank you," I reply trying to keep back my grin.

I straighten my hair and grab the bag to the right empty seat. I nod her goodbye as I exit the plane.

I walk out of the terminal and see Charlie, aged but still the same. I go over and hug him shortly then we walk over to get my suitcases.

The car ride is silent after the initial "how've you been, fine" conversation. This is all that can be expected of us.

We reach the house and he unlocks the door.

"Hey Bells, I have to go pull the night shift. Odd things have been happening. Do you remember where everything is?" he asks. I look over to him.

"If you haven't moved anything around I'm sure I'll be fine," I ask smiling towards him.

"Well alright. School started today but I'm sure you'll be alright. I got you some school supplies in case you need anything. They're on the kitchen table. I'll see you tomorrow morning," he said walking out the door.

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow," I answer before he shuts the door.

I walk over to the table. A blue backpack, notebooks, pencils, pens, and binders. I pick up a blue notebook. Suddenly shivers jolt up my spine. I lose control of my fingers. The notebook slips from them and falls to the ground.

"Damn it," I mumble to myself.

Another damn bad feeling. I've been getting too many of these. A book's pages flew open over in the living room. By now I knew the routine. I figured why should I fight it. For whatever reason it was me that needed to know these things. I'm not going to fight it anymore.

I looked down at the pages and read:

_In the forest a being of unknown powers awaits. To the far west of the city and on the cliff of a shoreline. A fire blazes and they are waiting._

I thought about this for a second. That dream I had. They must be related. Who knew it would be here in dinky little Forks? There was a beach to the west of here. Also what are the odds of Charlie having a book that says that in there? Well I guess too many things are coincidences so I really can't deny it.

I cram everything into my backpack and go upstairs and put it in my room, which is unchanged from my last stay. I maneuver some pillows under the sheets to make it look like a body sleeping underneath. I turn off the lights in the house and turn on the porch light. I pull the key from under the flower pot to the left of the door. I walk around to the side of the house and find my old bike still there.

Nothing has changed. This proved it. Charlie never liked my bike because it gave me a means of transportation that never proved very effective in Forks and he always feared that I would get lost. However he kept it after years of my absence. It made me smile.

I got on and rode out onto the bike trail behind the house. It was the best way I remembered to get to the beach. It was a few miles but it was cool tonight and not raining.

I wonder on the ride over I think of what could possibly be awaiting me. I feel the breeze on my face. A chill snakes its way up my back under my jacket and my body oozes with excitement of the unknown. I close my eyes, inhaling the breeze through my nostrils and exhaling through my mouth.

I open them again and catch a glimpse of light to the left. I stop and place my bike against a tree. I feel the softness of the ground under my feet once again. It's here. The unknown. My dream. My release.

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**A/N: So here's the introduction of Bella. Reviews always appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 4: Breaking Down

**A/N: I was on a roll and thought I'd continue. Thanks for the reviews. Hope you like. And once again do not own Twilight etc, etc.**

Chapter 4 – Breaking Down:

APOV:

The breeze catches my short hair and whips it around my face. I look out to the ocean. The waves crash against the shoreline beautifully, in such a natural way. The horizon stretches as far as even I can see north and south.

Before I know it the sun is setting, giving off a beautiful orange-pink glow across the sky. I look down at my skin watching it glisten as the sun completes its process.

I still possess no desire to go home. I knock down a few trees and build a large fire. Now that the sun is down I appreciate the warmth that is exuded from the fire though my body obviously doesn't change from it. I sit on the ground and watch it, entranced once more in the way the flames dance and swirl up into the sky.

My eyes are forced closed as a new scent fills my nostrils. Thirst and hunger fills me as well. I've never inhaled a more mouthwatering and irresistible scent. I can feel that my pupils have dilated. I fed a few days ago but desire pulses through my body. I should stop thinking about it. I cannot give in to the animal. I won't. We just got here. I won't be the reason for my family's uproot.

I stand up and turn around to face the ocean breeze, taking in deep gulps of air to rid my body of the delectable scent. Whoever they are, they are still coming closer. I begin to hear the gentle brushes of feet on the grass behind the fire.

I force my eyes open. I stop breathing and turn around. I go back to the place I was sitting at by the fire and assume it once more.

By this time I see the silhouette through the fire. I'm almost positive it is a young girl. Why hadn't a vision warned me of this girl coming?

Had I not been paying attention? Had one come and I was too lost in thought to notice? I doubt that. My focus always becomes completely undivided when I get a vision. Well maybe she throws them out of whack.

It was something to ponder later. She was definitely within hearing range now. I stay silent hoping that perhaps she will just walk away out of self preservation if nothing else.

She emerges from around the fire. I find myself unable to look away. She is stunning and beautiful for a human. I begin to question whether she is not also a vampire. I hear blood crashing through her veins and find my answer. Her long brown hair flows around her shoulders down around her neck. She has a beautiful body which is hidden under a baggy jacket and loose fitting jeans. She clearly does not appreciate her body like she should. _Wait did I just say that?_

"Hello," she says almost like a question but more as an acknowledgement. I continue to stare contemplating what I was thinking.

"I'm sorry but what are you doing out here? It's almost two in the morning," she asks further. She has a sweet kind of angelic voice. It's really quite odd to even think she is a human. I'm getting lost in my thoughts again. I better answer so she doesn't think I hate her or am a mute.

"Hi. I'm just out thinking. What are you doing out here?" I finally answer.

"Well I know this will sound weird but I'll just risk sounding weird. I had this bad feeling that something should happen or would happen and I needed to help it along or stop it. There I said it," she answers rather quickly even though I caught it all easily. I giggle at her admittance of something most humans would find odd.

"Hmm. Alright. Does everything look alright by your standards?" I ask playing along with her explanation and looking back to the fire.

"It does seem alright but you don't," she answers rather frankly. I cock my head over to her with a questioning look.

"What do you mean?" I ask further.

But before she can answer another figure emerges out of the forest. Damn visions being blocked.

It is Jasper. The girl jumps at his sudden appearance looking frightened. I look over to him.

"Alice, is everything alright? I saw the smoke and got worried," he answers with the memories of years' past written on his face.

"Yes everything is alright Jasper. I promise. My friend and I were just talking around the nice warm fire," I answer almost mocking. He looks over to the girl acknowledging her for the first time.

"Alright then," he says looking confused but more content than when he had come. He turns and leaves with a nod to both of us.

"So your name is Alice. That's pretty. Who was that? Your boyfriend?" asks the mystery girl curiously.

"No he's not my boyfriend. Just my stepbrother. Well this doesn't seem fair," I say mocking sadness.

"What is that?" she asks confusion on her features.

"You know my name and I don't know yours," I answer, smiling.

"Oh I'm sorry. I'm Isabella. But I prefer Bella. All you have to do is ask if want anything," she responds.

"Well it's nice to meet you," I answer studying her features once more, thinking of the possibilities of "anything". _No, Stop that! She wouldn't like you. She's just being nice. Wait would I even want her to like me? _

"Do you want to walk down to the beach with me? I'm always so much more comfortable on the beach," she asks after a moment of silence.

"Ok," I answer. I look at her. She walks closer towards me and smiles. She grabs my cold hand and pulls me away from the warm fire. I shudder as her warm hand wraps around mine.

"Burr, your hand is cold. You should eat foods with more Iron. It helps the circulation of your blood, you know," she says. I smirk to myself at her mention of me possibly having blood. She stops and turns around suddenly while I laugh at the irony. She smiles, taking my hand in both of hers and rubbing it fiercely along hers. She grabs my other hand and does the same. I gasp at the warmth. My stomach tingles and spasms pulse through my body.

She begins to remove her jacket and I hold up my hand.

"That really isn't necessary," I say almost wishing I hadn't. I find myself wanting something of hers so that I can smell it instead of smelling her and causing her to run away from the crazy person.

"Nonsense, you are absolutely freezing. I'm surprised you didn't ask," she says, ignoring my protest. She walks behind me and motions that she wants my arms. I stick my arms through the already warm jacket as she walks around front and reaches down towards the bottom of the jacket, which is right by my belt line. She connects the zipper together and pulls it up to right above my breasts. _Why was I noticing where she started and stopped?_

"So what about you? Do you have a boyfriend?" I ask, actually curious.

"Nope. Honestly I have kind of lost my hope in guys at the moment and I'm just making friends with my books," she says, laughing. I can tell that she wishes she had someone though since her laugh doesn't reach her eyes.

I turn my attention to her scent inhaling it off her jacket.

She grabs my hand once more and pulls me towards the beach again.

She stops again, turns around and leans over. I look down completely confused by her spontaneity.

"Lift your foot up please," she commands politely.

"What?" I ask, still confused.

"Come on you heard me. Lift your foot up PLEASE," she says playfully stressing the "please".

I did as I was told. She removes my shoe and sock. She let go and I place it in the warm, to me, loose sand. I lift the other, seeing where she was going and she did the same to that foot.

She sat down and starts to remove hers. I lean down on one knee and take her shoe in my hand. She smiles and lets me remove her shoes as she had done. I smile back while standing back up and I put my hands out. She grabs them and I pull her up a little too forcefully catching her against my body with our faces only an inch apart.

"Thanks," she exhales blushing sheepishly. I release her and drop her gaze.

"You're welcome," I answer.

She leads the way onto the beach. I remember her comment before Jasper came.

"Wait so what did you mean by earlier? When you said that I didn't look alright?" I ask very curious for the response as we walk in the sand.

She looks at me and pauses. She appeared to be deep in thought. She looks down and then finally back up again continuing her walk.

"Well you look . . . broken," she answers sadly. I look at her trying to understand if somehow she really knew or I just show it blatantly.

"You seem better now but I have this odd feeling that it will go away once no one is around. It seems that you put on a mask for everyone because inside you feel like you don't deserve to be helped and that you don't deserve to be happy. I just see that in your eyes you are broken. That maybe at one time, you gave someone your whole heart and they broke it. And now you don't feel you can give any part of yourself to anyone or it will be broken again," she continued.

I just stare, uncomprehending. _How did she read me so well?_

"How . . . how. . ." I stutter unable to form a sentence.

"I've always been good at reading people before they even tell me a thing about themselves. It gets kind of annoying actually because I end up reading people as I walk around and I just see so many people that don't care about anything but money and other materialistic things. It's refreshing seeing someone like you and odd that you are so young," she answers smiling.

I stop our walk in the sand. She stops as well and turns around. She looks at me sadly still smiling reassuringly.

My knees collapse from under me. Bella rushes over and descends. She places a hand on the small of my back and the other on a hand.

"What's wrong?" she asks. Somehow I almost thought she knew before I answered.

"I'm just so surprised," I say before I throw my arms around her neck forcing my face into the crook of her neck so that I don't have to look her in the eyes.

"Ssh, it's ok. I'll be here. You don't have to pretend anymore," she whispers into my ear hugging me tightly, as far as I could tell.

We sit together on the beach until the sun begins to creep over the horizon on the other side.

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**A/N: So yeah. Alice is slowly but surely recovering. How'd you like it? Reviews always appreciated. **


	5. Chapter 5: New Student

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Oh and just in case you need reminding I do not own any characters, etc., etc. Enjoy! ******

Chapter 5 – New Student:

APOV:

I would've thought it was a dream if I hadn't lost the ability to sleep decades ago and if we hadn't stayed up all night.

"Well I should get home. At least if I get home by dawn there is the possibility that Charlie didn't get home yet," she says smiling, "I might escape grounding if I beat him there."

"Sorry, I don't really have to worry about it. My parents get that I just can't go home sometimes," I answer, being mostly truthful and wondering why she just called her dad Charlie. I guess that would have to wait for another time.

"No, it's alright if I do get grounded. It'll have been worth it," she answers flashing another dazzling, for a human, smile. I melt into a returning smile. _She probably thinks you're a moron. Stop smiling._

My smile dropped but was soon returned when she caught me in an unexpected hug. I sighed softly, hoping she didn't hear me. It was a relatively long hug I suppose. I'm not completely sure though because, especially while around her, I don't know how to keep track of seconds anymore. They don't really matter much to me. She releases and I inhale her scent, quietly, one more time. It was unbelievably intoxicating. I've never smelled a human that just ruined my thought process while I was around them.

"Well I guess I'll see you around," she concludes.

I knew how I could find her but I wasn't sure that she could find me. I guess we'll just have to depend on what led us to our first meeting. Fate. I know it's silly but it's the only way I can explain meeting her. It was the first time since Jasper's confession that I was surprised. I just hope it doesn't take too long before I see her again.

I wave a final goodbye as she disappears into the forest, smiling.

I figure that I can stop by the house and take a shower at least. Also I can reassure everyone that I am still alive since that seems to still be an issue.

Inhaling deeply, I slip into the forest back towards my house replacing the mask to its former position. _Or wait. It feels different. It doesn't feel like a mask anymore. Am I actually happy?_

A genuine smile graces my lips at the thought.

"Alice," Jasper calls from the porch. I must have been standing just outside the house for a while.

"Hey Jasper. Sorry, I just got lost in thought," I answer and continue forward in through the front door walking right past him. For the first time, it doesn't hurt at all to be so close to him. To have his scent roll right across my face.

I couldn't help but tug my lips up at the satisfaction that it is over. I am finally completely over him.

I walk up the stairs to my room and take a shower. I pick out a beautiful pink top and some black pinstripe pants complete with black stilettos. A huge improvement from yesterday.

I walk down the stairs out to the Volvo and everyone stares for a moment.

"Yes?" I ask, grinning.

"You look great, Alice," Jasper answers.

"Yes you look fabulous. I thought I'd never see this little darling again," reply Edward in all his flaming glory. I smile.

We drove off to school. I walk onto the grounds, extremely confident. About a dozen different boys flirt with me before school even starts. I politely decline all but one offer because he had my first period with me.

I had a completely boring conversation with him but he was sweet. Suddenly I was hit with a vision . . .

_I am walking down a hallway and bump into a girl._

. . . right before the event happened.

"Damn it, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was . . ." I start but was cut off when I saw who I was apologizing to.

It was Bella.

I lean over quickly helping her gather her books, papers, and schedule. Her hand grazes over mine as she takes what I had picked up. I try not to make any sudden movements. I am still utterly stunned of course so it wasn't too hard. It is hard not to concentrate on the spot where her skin had touched mine.

"Hello?" she asks.

"Hey sorry," I answer dumbly. _Way to go. Moron 2 Grace 0. _

"I thought you were ignoring me for a second," she answers smiling, obviously relieved that I wasn't in fact ignoring her.

"So did you get grounded?" I ask changing the subject.

"Nope. I made it home, hopped in the shower and made breakfast just as he got home," she answers giving a goofy little "thumbs-up" sign with a goofy smile to match. She is such a dork but I love it. I give her a "you're crazy" look and she just stickes her tongue out at me. I giggle, while thinking of her tongue in my mouth. _Damn it Alice. Control yourself. Jeez you pervert._

I look away sheepishly at my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Bella asks looking curious. I shake my head and just smile.

"Nothing. So where is your first class?" I ask changing the subject again.

"I know it's somewhere on this part of campus," she answers pouting as she looks at her schedule again. She looks unbelievably adorable.

"Here let me see," I say barely able to contain my laughter. I scan over her classes. We had 3 classes together, including the first one.

"Well cool. Your first class is the same as mine," I answer happily.

"Yay, I already know someone," she says gleefully. I grab her books from her hands. It was next to nothing in my grasp.

"What are y-," she starts.

"I'm carrying your books for you," I interrupt like it was a dumb question to even start.

She pouts. _Wow control yourself. Just think about. . . all the species of trees. Anything but her lips and how they would feel against yours. Wait, STOP IT! No, no, no, no! Balsam fir, White fir, Box elder , . . ._

"What are you doing?" she asks in a tone like she could tell that I was trying to ignore something.

_. . . Zelkovia. Damn those are all the species. Wait she just asked you something, pay attention but don't get perverted._

"I'm sorry, what'd you say?" I ask coming back to reality.

She gave me a look like "are you serious?"

"Look I'm sorry it's only my second day. I was . . . just trying to remember how to get to class," I lie. She could totally tell. I know she could. Would she call me on it?

"Ok," she replies simply. I could tell that it wasn't over though. I just knew it.

We walk to class. I sit down, setting the books down on the desk next to me, motioning Bella to sit in that desk. A sly look crosses her face. I get slightly frightened. The kid next to me tapped my shoulder and asks me if he could borrow a pencil. I give him one and then feel a light pressure on my shoulder. I keep calm but am on guard.

"You better have an explanation ready after school because you and I both know that was total bullshit before," she whispers running her hand down my back. I heard it seductively but I couldn't tell if it was just my imagination.

The rest of the day continues, with me gawking at Bella and then mentally slapping myself for inappropriate thoughts while she is around. When we didn't have class together I tried to see a vision of her shower from this morning. I don't think it works for the past or for Bella period.

I get a little disappointed but I guess she's my own little surprise in the day.

She meets the rest of my family at lunch. It's not very eventful. I think they were keeping their distance because they didn't know what to think of this sudden contact with a human.

"Do you have any other kinds of clothes?" I ask as we walk to history, eyeing her choice in clothing that is similar to last night.

"What? Now you decide that you don't like my clothes. After I spend all night with you," she adds teasing as well as implying.

"Well you have such a great body and I don't see why you don't show it off," I put matter-of-factly.

"Really?" she looks down at herself and then back at me with a "yeah, sure" look.

"Yes, really," I answer confidently.

"What'd you smoke this morning? Pot, crack, or did you just go straight for the ecstasy?" she continues as my jaw drops. I can't believe she is this horrible to herself.

"I don't do any of those! I can't believe you'd tell me not to pretend anymore when you're denying one of the most obvious things on the planet," I argue, pouting at the end. She giggles, trying to contain herself and failing, when she almost doubles over.

"What is so funny?" I ask, hardly able to contain myself as I watch her writhe uncontrollably.

"You look so adorable when you pout. Like really I would've thought that you were a six-year-old. So cute," she sighs after her laughter subsides.

I totally would've blushed if I still could have. She thought I was cute. _Snap out of it. Girls say that to each other all the time now. It doesn't mean anything._

Right. It doesn't mean anything. I calm myself and smile back at her, still having occasional giggles.

I am about to walk into a door. She grabs my arm and brings my attention to the impending embarrassment just in time. I however fall backward like a moron (_Moron 3 Grace 0) _as I concentrate too much on the fact that she touched me. She falls on top of me. She blinks a few times and lifts her head back up. She places her hand on my hip for support. I hold my breath. _Stay calm._

"Alice, are you ok?" she asks concerned, her face only inches from mine. I nod and repeat the question to her.

"Yeah I'm fine. Now what the hell was that?" she asks confused, her warm breath brushing against my face. The feel alone sent me into a stupor. Then I smell it.

"Sorry, I just got distracted," I answer dazed. I lean onto my elbows, putting our faces a little too close together.

"Still very cold I see," she smiles trying to lighten the mood. I stop breathing again.

She gives me a strange look but then the bell rings before she can ask whatever she was thinking. _Thank you to whatever force helped me out._ I look away. She removes her hand from my hip and pushes herself up. She puts out a hand but I am already pushing myself off the ground.

I lean over, pick up her books and we walk into the class. Shortly after I excuse myself to the bathroom.

I foresaw that no one was in there or going in. I looked in the mirror. I inhale and exhale deeply four times. I splash icy cold water on my face although it still feels a little warm. I grabbed some paper towels and wipe my face off. _Look what this girl is doing to you. You need to relax or she is going to think you are completely mental. Just stop thinking about her like that. All you will ever be is friends._

I heard the door open and almost jump onto the ceiling. Instead I freeze and then relax, only slightly, when I saw Bella enter.

"Alice?" she asks sadly. I frown at myself. I am making her sad. The exact opposite of what I want. I look at her in the mirror, then down at the sink. I turn around and lean against the sink looking at her.

"I'm sorry. I just thought that you were mad at me for almost running into the door and complementing you on your appearance and not telling you what I was thinking and . . ." _You're rambling. Wrap it up before you make a fool of yourself again. _". . . and I just didn't want to lose you as a friend when I just met you less than 12 hours ago," I finish exhaling sharply. She looks at me thoughtfully.

"Alice I'm not mad. I'm just confused at the fact that you can't seem to relax around me while we're at school. Also at the fact that you won't tell me what's wrong. I thought I made it clear that you didn't have to keep anything from me," she looks concerned and sincere as she says this.

"I'm sorry but I just can't tell you what's wrong," I answer softly, holding her gaze.

"Why not?" she asks frustration starting to appear in her voice.

"It involves my past, that's why," I answer also growing a little hostile.

"Well when I told you that you don't have to pretend that also includes your past. I just want to know so I can help," she retaliates.

"That's not something I'm particularly proud of and I'm not willing to discuss it," I answer defiantly.

"Fine," she yells and exits the bathroom.

_Damn it. Look what you did now. Why can't you just talk to her? Stop shutting yourself up like this. You finally found another person other than Jasper that you can talk to about this._ Shut up. Weren't you just saying to stop thinking about her like that?

And with that, the argument between me and myself was finished. I look at myself in the mirror one last time before exiting the bathroom as well. I send Jasper a text to go grab my bag from class and to give the teacher some excuse as to why I did not return. Then I am out the door at the back of the building and a short distance from the woods.

I scan the area shortly and then run into the woods once again feeling the breeze whipping my hair all over. Unfortunately I have too many things on my mind to enjoy it this time.

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**A/N: So Alice is having trouble opening up still and it's getting her in trouble. I know that it's probably weird to read Alice being the klutz but it's just when she's around Bella. Alice is her awesome graceful self otherwise. Reviews, as always, are appreciated.**


	6. Chapter 6: Past Collides with the Presen

**A/N: I do not own Twilight or its characters. Sorry for keeping it in Alice's POV and I get that you guys want to know what Bella is thinking but there are way too many fanfictions in Bella's POV so I thought I'd focus on Alice and just throw Bella in there just to give a mystery affect. But yeah just thought I'd explain. **

**Oh and the song is The Last Night by Skillet. The reason I started this Fanfiction. ******** Enjoy!**

Chapter 6 – Past Collides with the Present:

BPOV:

I storm out of the bathroom. She was being completely unreasonable. How could she leave out her past? It's part of her. I know that I've only known her for a few hours but I just know that she has more to her than everyone sees.

I sat back down in class and counted the seconds until Alice would return. Each second ticked by ridiculously slow, mocking me. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 2893. The bell rings. I blink repeatedly, confused. Alice still hasn't returned. I gather my stuff clumsily. I have placed all my supplies in my bag and slowly pull the zipper all the way around. I am hoping to buy myself a little time to have Alice come back and at least get her things.

I look back at the sound of the door opening and I am surprised when Jasper walks through. He smiles and then walks over to pick up Alice's things. He then promptly walks over to the teacher. I hear him explain to the teacher a well constructed lie. The teacher bought it, completely fooled.

I however was not fooled for a second. I knew I had upset Alice but not so much that she couldn't be close to me long enough to grab her things and then skip the rest of the day. This was much more serious than I originally thought. She must be utterly ashamed of her past. I didn't think someone so sweet and kind could have a past that would cause this.

I stop by the bathroom on my way to class. It was empty. I didn't think she would still be there but I had to check.

I jitter with frustration, sadness, guilt, and also a strange chill in the air that could not be warmed by Alice's bright personality. I begin to rub my arms, convincing myself that I was actually starting to feel cold.

I get smacked in the face with a dodge ball 8 times in gym. I probably have a black eye but I don't even care. The stares of the people around are empty.

I walk to my truck. My eyes widen at a familiar freezing touch. A smile starts to ascend my face and I turn my head. I am confused when my eyes fall on Jasper.

"Can you come with me please?" he asks quietly, almost inaudible.

"Ok," I hesitate. He held out an arm, showing the way that we were going.

"I thought we'd go to the soccer game," he says pretending to be casual. I look at him curious.

"I really should go home to cook for Charlie if we are just going to watch the game," I say dropping the hint that this better be important.

"I think you'll want to hear some of things I have to say while we watch. There are some things that you must know about your new friend," he finishes quietly. My ears perk at the last two words. Was he trying to imply something? _Shut up. You wish. Alice is beautiful and an angel. Like she would ever be interested in you._

My inner voice was right.

"So have I kept your interest now?" he asks kind of mocking almost.

"Yes," I smirk back. He smiles which falls too soon. With its fall, a new mood is set between us. He sits down on a bleacher seat and I join him on the same row but about 2 feet from him.

"Ok well first, you must know that the Alice you see and the real Alice are two different people. She was hurt by the ones she trusted most, twice," he starts. I could tell that this was not going to be something that I want to hear but also that I knew that I would have to force myself to listen.

"I guess I'll just start at the beginning," he sighs. I turn and face him, looking into his eyes, to help give him confidence. I nod. He inhales and exhales deeply.

"Alice grew up in Russia. She lived in a traditional home of Russian culture. But at a very young age she was sent to an asylum. You must understand that in Russia they still use very archaic and inhumane modes of "treatment". She was brutally tortured through shock therapy, drowning, and being beaten almost to death," he cringes at the mention of each act. I brought a hand to my mouth. Tears began to form and blur my vision. He glances at me but turns his gaze back to the game as he continues.

"She was tortured for years. In her early teens she met me. We became very close. I helped her escape and we traveled for years until we made it over to America. We both thought that we had met the person that we would marry," he smiles at this. I could tell that there were facts that he was leaving out but I knew that he was telling me everything that he could.

"About two years ago, we were adopted by Esme and Carlisle. I'm afraid that I was the second to cause her pain. I feel guilt for her everyday but Edward stole my heart after a few months with our new family and I broke Alice's in the process," his gaze fell to the ground. It looks like he wants to cry but couldn't.

It didn't matter. I was crying enough for the both of us. The tears pour over my cheeks. He stops letting me gather myself after all the information that he had already given me. I feel that he was just getting started. It made my stomach churn that this was not even the worst of the story.

Alice had her heart completely shattered by her first love, and savior from her dark prison. No wonder she had trouble telling me. She probably still cared for him while he was happy with Edward. Before I sat on this thought and created more tears, I wipe my face and sniff.

"I'm good. You can go on," I answer, needing desperately to hear the rest.

"Well at first she yelled at me and told me that she couldn't even look at me. She lay out in the forest around our house for a week and a half eating very little and drinking just enough so she didn't dehydrate. If it weren't for Rose and Esme, she probably would've just died out there," he looks sadly over to me. He cares deeply for Alice. They would've been the ideal couple. I smile reassuring.

"After that she was just empty. She walked around as if she had nothing to live for. She refused to come within 10 feet of me. I completely understood but it just flared the guilt that I already felt. Then the worst memory of my life happened," he chokes out. I wait.

"She was out in the forest and was attacked by 3 mountain lion cubs after the mother had "killed her". It was amazing that she survived. We came just in time and we had the car to scare them off. It broke our hearts however when we heard her mumble "Why didn't you just let me die?" She had tried to kill herself," he stops noticing that my mouth fell open again. I couldn't believe it. I just stare at him. I mean I could tell that there was a detail off but that it was mostly true.

"If you don't believe me there is still a scar on her left wrist. Just check and it's like that all over her body. It's completely horrible. But that's not even the worst," he pauses. My breath catches in my throat. How could there be anything worse?

"She tried again about a month later. This time she built a huge fire. I tackled her just before she was about to walk into the fire," he looks over to me still unbelieving himself.

"She was actually about to walk into the fire. I held her to the ground and refused to let her go. I had to settle it. She finally forgave me, in a way. It was the best I could've hoped for," he ends. I burst into tears again. I made silent sobs to myself.

He sits and waits for about 10 minutes until I calm myself. Then it suddenly clicked.

"Wait, that is why you came by that night," I both question and state. He nods.

"I feared that after all her progress that something had happened and she was going to try again," he answers somberly.

I raise my hand back over my mouth trying to soften my uncontrollable sobs. He slides closer and places a hand on my back, rubbing gently.

"You must understand that Alice is still very fragile and that she just couldn't bring herself to tell you. She's ashamed and embarrassed by her past. She doesn't feel that she deserves to be happy again but this morning for the first time in months, she was happy," he finishes. I look up at him with tear-stricken cheeks and bloodshot eyes. I sniff.

She was happy for the first time in months? Was it because of me? But how? She was the one that is helping me. Even if she didn't want me like I want her, I want to at least be there for her as her friend.

"You caused her happiness. I know it. I saw it last night as she bantered with me for the first time in years. I saw that her smile did not fade as I left. It was you. You make her happy. And I thought that you should know that you can't give up on her. She needs you. I can't make her happy anymore especially now that she has met you," he says, eyes softly glowing as he looks at me.

"Will she want to see me though?" I ask.

"No, she is thinking. She actually went to our aunt's house in Idaho," he answers. Bullshit. But I guess he couldn't tell me and I just accept that he meant that she was somewhere that I could not reach her.

"Oh," I answer softly.

"If you need anything. Feel like you need to do something for her to help her understand. Whatever it is. Just let me know and I will help in any way that I can," he told me warmly.

I thought for a moment. I knew what I should do.

"Do you have a piano?" I ask. He looks at me oddly for a second and then smiles.

"Yes. We also have a recording studio. Edward likes to write and record songs. Would you like to use it?" he asks. I nod.

"I really need to go cook for Charlie now but can I have your number?" I ask. He pulls out a note card and scribbles a number down.

"Thank you," I say grateful.

"Thank you," he answers in return.

We part. I go home and cook for Charlie. Then I do the little homework I had. I stay up all night thinking of my time with Alice, sighing peacefully into sleep.

One Week Later

Ring. Ring. Ri-

"Hello," answers an angelic voice, with a hinted chill.

"Hi, this is Bella, is Jasper there?" I ask, slightly frightened.

"Yes," the cold voice replies.

"Hello," answers the much warmer voice, a second later.

"Who was that?" I asked wanting to know who I should avoid at his house.

"That's Rose. Sorry I think she's upset that Alice is still gone as well," he answers somberly.

"Oh, sorry about that," Guilt fills me.

"That's all right. Would you like to use the piano now?" he asks changing the subject thankfully.

"Yes please. I might be over for a while. Is that alright?" I ask. I had been thinking all week about what I want to do but I haven't yet figured a melody to go with it. I mentally thank Renee for forcing me to take piano lessons long enough so I could do this one thing for Alice.

"That is fine. We're going to Port Angeles to have dinner. We won't be back until about midnight or 1. And if you need more time I can convince them to stop by somewhere else and just stay in a hotel," he offers. He is being so generous. Alice is so lucky for the love of her family. I don't even see why she needs me.

"No no, midnight should be fine. I wouldn't want to force your family out of their own house any longer than a few hours. I already feel bad for that," I answer.

"No it's fine. We were planning on going out anyways," he answers, lying to make me feel better. I thought I heard a growl in the background. My spine shivers.

"Ok well how do I get there?" I ask. He gives me very simple directions.

"I guess I will see you shortly then," I answer awkwardly.

"I'll see you soon," he answers, cheerfully.

I walk outside to my truck. It churns to life as I turn the key in the ignition. Charlie had the night shift once again.

I pull out of the driveway and drive to all the Cullens except the one that I so desperately want to see. I've thought about nothing this week except for the few encounters I had with Alice. They were the only memories that could bring a smile across my lips.

I pull up to an extravagant house. My mouth drops open a little. My eyes widen. It is a two-story, old style beautiful house.

I cut the engine and lose my footing as I step out of my truck. I continue to stare in wonder as I approach the mansion. The door opens before I reach it.

With it opened the familiar and yet unfamiliar Cullen family appears. Of course I had met all of the children but they seemed to be keeping their distance from me. I look to the new ones that I could only guess were Esme and Carlisle. Most would assume that they were both ravishing super models.

Carlisle had blonde wavy locks, rugged mountain man facial features, and the same golden eyes that were present across all the faces of the family. They had great wisdom and kindness present deep within them. Esme was beauty personified just like Rosalie except with light brown hair. Her eyes however were motherly and giving unlike Rose's hard, cold ones.

"Hello, you must be Bella," Carlisle says politely.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me use your piano. I'm sorry that I've forced you out of your house," I finish slightly guilty.

"We were planning on going out already. And we're happy to let you use it if you feel that it will make Alice happy. That's all we want," he answers softly.

I look around to see everyone nodding sadly at this. My heart broke. They were willing to do anything to have their daughter and sister happy again. She must've been so sad over these past few months.

I felt like I was missing something but pushed it out of my mind.

They bid me farewell and walk over toward a very nice car. They all fit just barely and Jasper waves one final time. They were off down the road and disappearing from sight.

I look around the house, the inside more stunning than the outside. I snap myself out of my daze. The piano didn't seem to be anywhere on the first floor.

I walk up the stairs and decide to start at the end of the hall. I shouldn't have. I open the door slowly. Alice. It was her room. Everything I knew about her told me so. There was no doubt.

I timidly walk inside, tears already beginning to form. As I cross the threshold, I inhale her familiar smell. The tears slide down my cheeks. I had realized that I missed Alice this past week but not how much until I realized that her scent was not accompanied by her beautiful face and sweet laughter.

I sit on her bed remembering.

Memories flood back from that night over a week ago.

_My eyes fall upon her face. So beautiful. Too beautiful for words. She had been staring into the fire but now possessed a similar intensity towards me. I am lost for words but after she wouldn't speak I had forced myself to. _

_She was out thinking at two in the morning. What could this beautiful angel have to worry about? Something troubled her features. I could tell. I would help her forget her troubles tonight at least or help her get over them if I could._

_She asks me why I was here. I figure I would just be honest at the risk of sounding stupid. She laughs. Probably the best sound that has graced my ears. I had to force my eyes to stay open and not relish in the beautiful sound._

_She asks me if everything seems alright. It's not. Not when she looks so broken. I tell her that. She looks back at me curiously._

_She asks what I mean and before I can answer we are joined by Jasper. He seems very worried. I find out that my angel's name is Alice._

_Alice talks with him and he is off after a short while._

_My heart drops because I get the feeling that she and him are dating. They have a close bond. I ask her and am relieved when she answers no. She then jokes about not knowing my name. I tell her and try to imply that I will let her have anything she wants to help me figure out if she's interested._

_She answers politely and I give up. I then ask if she wanted to go to the beach so that I can at least be with her even if she doesn't like me the way I like her._

_I grab her hand and it is freezing. I was about to let go out of instinct but instead my hand held still, not wanting to let go. I turn around and rub my hands along hers creating delicious friction._

_In another pathetic attempt to show her how I feel, I removed my jacket after her protests and walk around to put her arms through the sleeves. I even zip it up for her. I can't help what I'm doing but I just smile to hide anything but just regular 21__st__ century girl affection. She asks if I have a boyfriend. _

_I think about it for a minute. I shouldn't stay on my problems tonight. I wish I had someone but I do not want any boy._

_I told her no and joke about how I'm making friends with my books. I grab her hand and continue pulling her toward the beach enjoying her light grip in mine._

_I thought about an idea and then turn around abruptly. I lean over and remove her shoes after she got over her confusion. I sit down and begin to remove mine. I am pleasantly surprised when she leans down and starts to remove them for me. Her soft cold fingers hold my calf as she removes my shoe. We exchange smiles._

_She gets up and puts her hands out for me to grab. I grasp them loving it. She pulls with surprising force and accidentally sends me flying toward her body where she catches me easily._

_Our faces are inches apart and I can feel her cool breath graze across my neck. I almost kiss her but instead I thank her awkwardly. She says you're welcome and drops her arms from around me as well as her gaze from mine._

_Ok now I know that she doesn't like girls. She is just being polite._

_She asks about my earlier comment before Jasper interrupted us and it broke my heart having to tell her what I saw in her eyes._

_She stutters cutely when I seem to read her easily and I explain._

_I stop after I realize that she has stopped. I turn around and she collapses. I rush over to her wondering what I said. She just looks at me and tells me that she is surprised. She then throws her arms over my shoulders and buries her face in my neck. _

_I love holding her like this and try to comfort her telling her that she can tell me anything. _

_We stay like this all night long until the sun rises about 2 hours later and I regretfully have to release her. I tell her that I must go home. She apologizes and I refuse to accept it because it was the best night I have ever had._

_I go back into the forest and head home from my love._

I came back from my thoughts of the first time I met her. I stop crying. I look around her room. Her room is empty and it is completely my fault. I have to find a way to make it up to her.

My thoughts drift back to a week ago when I ruined everything.

_She starts the conversation innocently enough by obviously not liking my choice of clothing. She then compliments my body and I look down at myself confused and give her a "you're crazy" look. I then joke that she is on drugs. _

_She seems offended by the harsh comments about myself. She thinks I'm beautiful and I didn't accept the compliment like I should have. _

_A door opens right in front of us and I grab her arm to stop her but she fell backward instead. She seems overly surprised and tense. She has been like that all day. I fall down on top of her since I was still holding her arm._

_I place a hand on her hip, loving the smooth texture. I ask her if she is alright. She is and asks me the same. I reply yes and then finally confront her on her weird mood all day. She answers with a stupid response while leaning onto her elbows, putting our faces even closer together. I am overcome by the urge to kiss her again but decide to lighten the mood by joking about her temperature._

_She appears to have stop breathing at that. I look at her curious but the bell rings before I can ask. I remove my hand from her hip and place it on the floor to hoist myself up. I offer a hand but she is already up._

_She rushes to class and I follow. She excuses herself shortly after. I give her 10 minutes and then join her._

I pushed her too hard, too fast. I didn't deserve her as a friend or anything else.

I push these thoughts out of my mind and head to the next room. It was the one with a white grand piano. I sit down on the bench and spend the next 3 hours coming up with the best song I can. I can only hope that it is enough for her.

I am about to leave the house. I put my hand out to grasp the door handle. It turns of its own accord. They must be home early. It is only 10:30. I step back to let them swing the door open.

My eyes connect with . . .

APOV:

. . . Bella. What is she doing here? I had heard the piano playing an unfamiliar melody a little while ago but I thought that Edward was just writing another song for Jasper.

Her face looks worn and worried. My poor Bella. What had I done to her? Making her worry like this. It looks like she hasn't slept since I left.

"Alice," she whispers, just as surprised as I am.

"Bella," I whisper, holding her gaze intensely.

"I'm sorry," we say in unison. We laugh shortly. I step forward. She meets me in the middle with a tight hug and buries her face in my neck. I return only a little force, even though I want to return so much more.

She pulls back and looks at me concerned.

"I still can't tell you. I'm sorry but I'm too ashamed," I say sadly. I can't believe that I still can't bring myself to tell Bella what she wants to know.

"Will you be mad if I told you that Jasper told me everything?" she asks hesitating.

"No," I answer smiling. I'll have to remember to thank Jasper. It must've been hard for him too. I wonder if he told her absolutely everything. I doubt it.

She looks at my wrist. She grabs it in her hand and turns it over. She looks at it intently and then sadness engulfs her shining eyes. She looks up at me but I drop my gaze to look at the floor in shame. She brings her other hand up to my wrist and uses her index finger to trace the marks.

She starts to cry. I look up. I use my free hand and bring it to her face using my thumb to wipe the fallen tears from her smooth cheeks.

"I'm sorry," I repeat. I never wanted her to know about what I had done to myself. She smiles forgiving.

She hugs me once more and I inhale her scent deeply. I don't care if she hears me this time. I have missed her so much. I am relieved to hear her inhale deeply as well. I feel her nose and lips press against my shoulder as she inhales again before pulling away.

"Can you come with me?" she asks hopefully. I look at her curious but comply after thinking about it very shortly. She grabs my hand and laces her fingers through mine. It feels so right but I remind myself it still doesn't mean anything.

We walk up the stairs and into Edward's room. She releases my hand and goes to sit on the bench in front of the piano. She motions for me to sit next to her which I do.

"Well I'm a horrible singer but I wrote you a song to apologize and to show you . . . Never mind. Just listen," she tells me. It is cute how she blushes when she is nervous.

I place a hand on hers for encouragement. She smiles and then removes her hand from under mine. She moves her hands over the keys and I see them shaking slightly. I move closer and wrap an arm around her waist, while also laying my head on her shoulder.

The melody is soft and sweet.

_You come to me with scars on your wrists_

_You tell me this will be the last night_

_Feeling like this_

_I just came to say goodbye_

_Didn't want you to see me cry I'm fine _

_But I know it's a lie_

I would have cried if I could have. The lyrics are beautiful. Her voice is beautiful. I don't care what she says.

_This is the last night you'll spend alone_

_Look me in the eyes so I know you know_

_I'm everywhere _

_You want me to be_

_The last night you'll spend alone_

_I'll wrap you in my arms_

_And I won't let go _

_I'm everything_

_You need me to be._

Bella starts to cry after this. She sung with such emotion and I'm just glad that she cares so deeply for me when I felt the same. I close my eyes to lose myself in her singing.

_You're parents say everything is your fault_

_But they don't know you like I know you_

_They don't know you at all_

_I'm so sick of when they say_

_It's just a phase you'll be ok_

_You're fine_

_But I know it's a lie_

_This is the last night you'll spend alone_

_Look me in the eyes so I know you know_

_I'm everywhere _

_You want me to be_

_The last night you'll spend alone_

_I'll wrap you in my arms_

_And I won't let go _

_I'm everything_

_You need me to be._

_The last night away from me._

_The night is so long when_

_Everything's wrong _

_If you give me your hand and _

_I will help you hold on_

_Tonight, Tonight._

The piano melody is growing in intensity along with Bella's singing.

_This is the last night you'll spend alone_

_Look me in the eyes so I know you know_

_I'm everywhere _

_You want me to be_

_The last night you'll spend alone_

_I'll wrap you in my arms_

_And I won't let go _

_I'm everything_

_You need me to be._

_I won't let you say goodbye_

_And I'll be your reason why._

_The last night away from me._

_Away from me._

I open my eyes. She kept her fingers hovering over the keys for a moment and then places them in her lap. I grip her around her waist only slightly tighter. I lift my head off her shoulder and look at her. I bring my hands up to cup both her cheeks and wipe her tears away with my thumbs.

"Look at me. You're supposed to be the one crying, not me," she says breaking the silence and laughing at herself. She pouts.

"It was beautiful. Thank you. I just don't think I can cry anymore," I answer truthfully. I look at her beautiful face. She wraps her arms around my neck, burying her face into it. I feel the heat of a blush flare and figure that is the reason for her hiding her face from view.

I feel her trying to stifle a yawn. I lean back and she looks up curious.

"You should go to sleep," I say.

"But you aren't tired and . . . yawn . . . neither am I," she says yawning through her argument, and losing.

"Oh yes I'm tired let's go to bed," I lie. I pretend to yawn. She pouts. I smile.

"You're lying," she answers, not too happy.

"I'm sorry that I'm an insomniac. Come on, you are way too tired to drive. Stay here," I answer smiling.

"Ok," she answers without fighting, leaning forward against me again.

"Bella, I didn't mean right here," I whisper giggling. I look down to see her smiling.

"But why not, you are so comfortable," she mumbles, furrowing her eyebrows while still leaning against me.

I get up from the bench, keeping a hand on each shoulder while walking around the bench to get behind her. Her head drops lazily. She moans.

"Alice," she complains. I slide my hands down, one on her right hip and the other under her left arm. Her heartbeat quickens slightly. That's interesting.

Her eyes flutter open and she cocks her head back up at me.

"I'm helping you over to my room," I answer holding back the urge to kiss her. I raise my eyebrow.

She smiles then takes the arm that I was holding and moves it around my neck, "forcing" me to place my now free hand on her stomach.

She stands up clumsily and I hold her still as her body involuntarily wobbles. I steer her toward my room. I let go shortly to open the door and she almost falls to the floor but I reach back out for her.

"Wow you're fast," she answers sleepily. I figure that she is too tired to even notice so I lean her over and scoop her up bridal style. Best moment of my life. Then I lightly kick the door the rest of the way open and walk through to regretfully place her on the bed.

I remove the sheets from under her and slip her underneath them. She smiles at the warmth. I turn away from her.

"I was supposed to take care of you," she mumbles though I hear every word. I turn back around. I place a hand on her cheek. She places one of hers over it clumsily. She smiles again.

"Can I hold you?" she asks. I'm confused by what she means and by the look on her face I don't think she even quite understood it.

She looks like she is pondering. Then slides over to the over half of the bed and pats where she was just laying. I smile, now understanding.

I slip under the covers and turn my back to her. She snakes her arm around my waist. She moves close, pressing her warm, blood-filled body against my cold lifeless one.

"You are still so cold. Why haven't you eaten more Iron yet?" she asks frowning into my shoulder and neck. I laugh.

"I'm too busy being your pillow," I joke causing her to laugh into a sigh.

"Goodnight Alice," she sighs happily before she is lost.

"Goodnight my Bella," I answer in return. I thought I heard her heart skip a beat but I can't be sure.

____________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: Well hope you liked it and reviews, as always, are appreciated.**


	7. Chapter 7: Confession

**A/N: I do not own Twilight and I'm ok with that. Thanks for all the awesome reviews. ********Enjoy! **

Chapter 7 - Confession: 

APOV:

My love stirs next to me. I hear her heartbeat quicken from its dull repetitive rhythm. My smile drops slightly. I shift so that I am facing her, enjoying the feel of her light breath brushing against my neck. I stop breathing. It's so irresistible but not as much as having her here, holding me.

I lean up onto my elbow and tuck her hair that has fallen, covering her face, behind her ear. That's better. Her eyes flutter open. She smiles. Beautiful.

"Good morning," I whisper, so my voice doesn't startle her.

"Good morning," she whispers back.

"You might want to get home before you get grounded," I answer chuckling.

"Oh shit," her eyes widen and she releases me. She shoots up and her legs tangle in the sheets. Her leg bumps roughly against mine which will probably cause her a bruise later. Before I realize it, she falls backward and hits her head on the side table. The smell of her blood fills the room. Oh shit is right.

My eyes roll back in my head. _No, no, no, stop it. Control. Just this once. Please. _

I slowly creep off the bed to her side. She is blinking rapidly; obviously not aware of what is going on anymore. I kneel down and place a hand behind her head. I use the other to help prop her body up.

"Alice," she moans, moving a hand to her head to cover her wound. My breath is shallow and slow using all my will power to keep my composure.

"Yes, Bella," I answer through clenched teeth.

"I don't feel so well," she says, bordering towards unconsciousness.

"Bella, please just stay awake. I'll be right back," I plead, forgetting my thirst. I set her head gently back down. I run to get Carlisle but he is already at the door.

I didn't realize until now but everyone was in the frame of my door. Emmett was holding Jasper back, eventually pinning him to the floor. Rose was holding Edward. Carlisle walks past me and looks at Bella.

I jump up and snarl loudly. I continue to growl lowly in my chest, warning everyone to stay back.

Esme looks at me sadly then turns around and helps get everyone outside. I feel badly for her but I have to protect Bella. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Wait that's a lie. I do know what I'd do and they wouldn't like it. _It's for the best._ My conscience answers kindly for the first time.

"Whoa, that was awesome Alice. You have to show me how you do that," Bella laughs, the loss of blood getting to her.

I look at Carlisle and he nods. I can't face the others so I take the window outside instead.

I take my shirt off so that it won't get bloody as I hunt, in case Bella is awake when I return. I let my instincts take over. Before I know it, three bucks lie dead at my feet.

I'm an unbelievable monster. I shouldn't be putting Bella through this. No human should be around us. We are horrible creatures who have no reason to be around. I should be grey haired, weak, frail, and practically bed-ridden if not dead. I should not have been graced by Bella's presence and here I am ruining her life.

But if I'm being honest with myself, the truth is that I can't leave now. I would be completely incapable of it. It would be Jasper ten times over.

Not even my thirst would be able to root me from the spot that I last saw Bella. Even if it took years, I would just let myself deteriorate or whatever it is we do. I just couldn't will myself to move if I knew that I could never see her again.

I know it's selfish and it's horrible of me to keep her away from whatever she was meant to be. If it came down to it, I would let her leave if it would make her happy. I would give anything to make her happy.

Bella.

I snap out of my self-derogatory mood. I go in the creek and rinse off. Then I find my shirt and return to my room through the front door.

I glare at Edward and Jasper on the way to my room.

Her blood is still on the floor. I refuse to breathe until it is gone.

I look over to see Carlisle placing his fingers against her forehead. She shivers at his contact. Her eyes are closed. I look at him concerned.

"She is alright," he answers shortly.

I go to the bathroom and grab some towels along with some bleach. I clean her blood from the floor and nightstand. I go downstairs and throw the towels in the fireplace, which Esme thankfully started. I give her a worried smile before returning upstairs.

"Thank you. May I have a minute alone with her?" I ask Carlisle once back in my room. He nods and leaves at a human pace.

I move over to her and place a hand on her cheek. She does not shiver like I expect.

"There's that familiar cold hand I've been looking for," she mumbles, cracking her eyes open slowly. She smiles. How can she smile after what just happened? I return the smile nonetheless. I sit down softly on the edge of the bed.

"Wow Alice, you're eyes are so pretty this morning," she comments breathlessly.

"Yeah I went and ate some Iron while you were out," I joke.

"Liar," she frowns pretending that she doesn't like my joke but then smiles shortly after.

"How are you?" I ask, my worried expression returning.

"A few pints lighter," she continues to joke. She sees that I frown at the horrible, in my opinion, joke. "I'm sorry, I'm fine," she answers, moving her hand up to my cheek and using the other to cover mine with hers. She leans into my hand and pouts.

"Well I'm glad," rolling my eyes playfully at her unfair advantage. She smiles brightly.

She looks at me curiously. It's weird how she knows so well when I want to tell her something.

"What is it Alice?" she asks practically reading my mind. Ugh it's like Edward, but definitely better. I smile to myself.

"Well, I want to tell you something but I don't know how you'll take it," I answer mysteriously. She raises her eyebrows and her breath catches in her throat. I ignore it.

"Bella . . . I'm . . . ahh . . . "I try. She forces herself up, moaning softly and cringing slightly. This makes me frown slightly again. She takes her hands in mine for encouragement.

"I'm a vampire," I blurt out.

She tilts her head in confusion. She smiles, starting to giggle. I look at her, unbelieving.

"Did you even understand what I said?" I inquire, mouth slightly agape.

"Yes, I thought it was going to be something awful," she answers still laughing. She laughs a little longer and then frowns.

"Don't scare me like that ever again," she says seriously hitting my arm with some force, which I didn't feel. She withdraws her hand cradling it. I would've smiled except I'm still too shocked to react to the amusing sight.

"You do know what a vampire is don't you?!" I ask getting kind of furious at her lack of fear at the word. No self-preservation whatsoever.

"Yeah, yeah dripping fangs, biting your neck, and forever young. Luring people away at night. Don't worry I'm not an idiot," she answers brushing it off. I am beginning to doubt the second half of her statement. She even did hand motions along with her nonchalant attitude toward us. I am almost offended at how much she wasn't scared.

I'd teach her that she needs to be afraid. I jump up and let a snarl from deep in my chest erupt into the air. I then pounce onto her pinning both her arms against the wall. I lower my face to her neck and hear her heart speed considerably. I sniff softly at her pulse point and then withdraw myself.

Carlisle burst through the door, worry written in his features. I drop my gaze from him ashamed. Bella is frightened stiff against the headboard.

Suddenly she releases her frozen movement and gets off the bed. I turn to face her, eyebrows raised. She forcefully grabs my shoulders. I get freaked out thinking that she was going to kiss me in front of Carlisle. Instead she let out the most pathetic "snarl" I'd ever heard. I hold in a laugh as she moves her face forward and places her teeth lightly around the place my pulse point would be.

"I vaunt to suck your blood," she mumbles against me in a fake Transylvanian accent. Her tongue flicks against my skin as she talks. I take a sharp inhale and then stop breathing. _Don't think about it. You're fine. Just relax._

"Oh sorry," she says blushing as she moves back. Then she wipes her spit off my neck with her sleeve. I would've laughed if I wasn't completely and helplessly aroused by her.

I turn around and flash to the window. I throw myself halfway out the window and relish in the Bella free air. If only I could tame the beast, I could inhale the luscious Bella full air.

I move back in some and then slide down, kneeling, to rest my head on the windowsill. Bella slowly approaches. I whimper softly, and hopefully inaudible to her, as she touches my shoulder gently. She grazes her fingers along my sides kneeling down, placing a leg on each side of mine, until she has a hand on each of my hips. Thank the stars that Carlisle left the room. I can feel the heat radiating off her. I inhale softly as she continues to move her hands around my waist to my front, sending fire along my skin through her fingertips. My breath catches as her fingers trail my beltline.

"The last night away from me," she softly sings the last line of the song she wrote for me. She then places her face against my hair, inhaling softly.

I move my hands to cover hers. I lean back into her. I've never felt more relaxed or natural than I did right now. _Still doesn't mean anything. Stop enjoying it so much. It's the last time it will happen._

She sighs and I feel her smile into my hair.

There is a knock at the door. I stand up pulling myself from her grasp.

"Come in," I answer sadly, hit with an unexpected vision, and then I return my attention to what Carlisle is saying.

"I'm pretty sure that you girls still have to go to school. Especially you, Alice, since you've already missed a week. If you aren't feeling up to it Bella I'm sure we can drop you off on the way," Carlisle says. We look at each other frowning playfully. We laugh.

"No I'm alright," Bella answers with a smile.

"Ok, we'll be down in a minute," I answer Carlisle, finishing with a wicked grin toward Bella.

He leaves with a look that is slightly worried.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Bella asks, frightened as well.

"I didn't tell you that some vampires have special powers. And guess what mine is," I continue to smile wickedly.

"What?" she asks warily.

"I can see the future and now that I'm not so depressed and stressed, it is back in effect. And I know for a fact that you will have no argument against my coming request," I continue explaining.

"You can see the future?! Cool. Wait, why do I have a feeling that I won't like your request?" she starts out excited then becomes worried once again. I smile even wider, if it was possible.

"Oh darn Bella it looks like there are only 20 minutes left until school starts. There's no time to go home to get a change of clothes," I fake sadness. She pauses for a moment, raising her eyebrows, and then a look of pure horror crosses her face.

"No. No. Aw come on, Alice. Please don't. Alice," she whimpers starting to pout. She looked so cute. I almost give in but then I pouted in return.

"Please Bella. It's completely shameful what you wear. How can you not appreciate your body? It's gorgeous," I argue, even though I know I've already won.

"Ugh, Alice," she continues. She looks at me, blushing, and then drops her head in defeat. Yay, I won. I love having this advantage back.

I drag her into my huge walk-in closet. Her mouth drops.

"Alice, I -," she starts. I push a finger to her lips closing them. They are so soft. _Stop it. Give up on it already._

"Don't even bother," I finish it before it even starts. She frowns against my fingers and then moves away.

I walk over to some racks of clothing and pick out a green low cut sleeveless top and some hip hugging jeans. I finish with converse and a half jean jacket because I knew she'd complain about the sleeveless.

"Alice this outfit is for girls with boobs and an ass," she complains. I sigh.

"Bella, you have all of the cleavage and ass necessary to pull this outfit off. Otherwise I wouldn't have given it to you. You are beautiful. You are just going to have to learn to accept it. Trust me," I plead, forcing her to drop the subject.

"Fine," she answers annoyed. She fakes a smile, grabbing the clothes.

"Alice," she asks raising her eyebrows to give the hint that she wants me to leave.

"Aw ruin all my fun," I whisper into her ear seductively as I leave.

I smile as I hear her heartbeat skip. _You are so smug. It's just the fact that you're a vampire. You are such a cheater. Leave the poor girl alone._

I frown at my conscience, believing it once again.

I change into a sexy black top and form fitting jeans that fit just over the same black stilettos from a week ago. Then I go down stairs to fix Bella some eggs and toast. Bleuh. Gross. How can she eat this? I sniff it one more time before wrinkling my nose up again. I scoop it on a plate, disgusted, and then look up at the clock on the wall.

We only had 10 minutes before class starts. What's taking her so long?

I rush upstairs.

"Bella hurry up, we're going to be late," I state through the door. I hear a falling of objects behind it. Worried, I step forward and try to turn the knob. It's locked.

"Bella, are you hurt? If you don't answer, I'm busting the door down," I warn. I hear nothing for a full two seconds. _Oh now you can count seconds, might want to count two more just to make sure you're right._ Shut up.

Ignoring myself, I step back and kick the door with little force. My foot emerges through the other side and I pull it back out. I reach through and unlock the door.

I feel something grab my arm as I do this. It's warm, and moving. And worse still, covered in blood.

"Damn it Bella. I'm coming," I scold her as I fully remove my hand to open the door.

"I'm sorry Alice. It opened up again while I was putting the clothes on and I was passing out before I realized it," she apologizes, unable to focus on anything for long.

"Aw hun, I'm sorry. I should've stayed anyways since you had a head injury. I promise I'll keep you safe from now on," I answer regretting that I ever left.

I bend down while I say this lifting her head off the ground. I get a full on hit of her scent and my eyes roll back in my head for a split second. I can feel them turn black. I shake my head.

"Did you hurt anything else in your fall? Can you get up?" I ask, looking down at her eyes closing once again.

She moans barely audible and shakes her head slightly.

"Bella? Carlisle," I speak just loud enough for him to hear. He is there instantly.

"Should I get some more blood?" I ask on the verge of a panic attack, if vampires can even have panic attacks.

"Yes, and get me some more towels," he answers, shaking his head and leaning down.

I speed down the stairs to the garage fridge and grab some towels on the way back up.

I run back upstairs. I hand him the towels, which he immediately places under her head. Her scent burns my throat but I couldn't even imagine hurting her right now as I look helplessly at her.

"This is very odd," Carlisle whispers only so I can hear.

"What's that?" I ask curious, continuing the vampire volume.

"This head wound should not have opened up again without having been brushed up against something," he answers, pondering.

"Well she hasn't even changed her top so nothing should have even had the chance to brush against it," I answer, looking at her top noticing that it is definitely the same one.

"Has she ever told you about anything unusual about herself?" he asks.

"N-, wait. She did tell me this one ridiculous thing about getting bad feelings, almost like my future seeing I suppose but not quite," I answer thinking about it as I let the words escape my lips.

"Well that should do it. Ask her if she had one of her "bad feelings" when she wakes up," he tells me still thinking. He gets up and turns to smile at me.

"Ok. Will she be alright?" I ask still worried.

"She should be just fine. Don't worry about school today. Just try to help her get better. I'm going to call her father," he answers, giving me another reassuring smile. I nod.

I sit with her curious about what Carlisle mentioned. Could Bella be a supernatural human? What if she became a vampire?

"No, no, not Alice. Please, not Alice. Take me instead. Just let her be," she mumbles, interrupting my thoughts. Her eyes are still closed. Hmm, she talks in her sleep. That'll be interesting. What is troubling her? What is happening? How can I protect her from her dreams or nightmares? _You can't._ This time it answers sadly. I run my fingers through her hair, over her face and down her arms.

My eyes refocus lower down her arm as I notice a raised whiter mark along her arm. I gasp.

"No," I whisper. How did I not notice this before? She has yet to wear a short sleeve shirt. That is why. What happened?

"Bella?" I whisper placing a hand on her cheek rubbing my thumb gently against it. She remains asleep, almost more peaceful than before.

I check under her head to see if there is any more blood. There is none. She shifts gently toward me. I am sitting, Indian style on the floor. It was almost as if she was awake, but her heartbeat remains slow as if asleep. She sits up and crawls in between my legs. She uses her hands and pulls my legs apart. I get surprised but her audacity and react by holding my unnecessary breath. _She's not doing what you think. Only in your dreams, this means never. Pervert._

She then turned around and placed her head high on my thigh, nuzzling against it. She wrapped her arms around my leg pulling it closer to her. I smiled at her odd behavior. She was asleep the entire time. I grab a blanket close by and lower it gently over her and my leg. I bend my other leg at the knee. I back up a little, bringing her with me, so that I was against the frame of the door.

One Hour Later

She stirs beneath me finally.

"Hey sleepy head," I answer with my head leaning against the door frame, eyes closed. I slide my fingers through her hair as well. It was relaxing.

"Hey," she mumbles, nuzzling against my thigh some more. She starts to move.

"Don't get up too fast. Just take it slow. We're not going to school," I answer filling her in.

"Oh, cool I guess," she answers. She cringes and my eyes shot open.

"What?" I ask worried.

"My head," she answers lamely. She releases her grip from around my leg and brings one arm up to her head while propping herself onto her other elbow.

I wait a little while then help her lean up.

"No I don't want to get up," she moans and then places her back into me. I smile. She then grabs my hands and pulls them around her waist. I became aware of our close proximity and her scent took another shot at the back of my throat.

I let her sit there for about 5 or 10 minutes. I'm not completely sure. I love having her relax against me. My tension releases with her nearby. But unfortunately we can't sit here all day.

"Bella," I whisper in her ear.

"Hmm," she answers.

"I think we should get up," I say regretfully. I want nothing more than to sit there with her forever. She tenses and removes her hands from over mine. She then replaces them on the floor and pushes herself up. I hold my hands out to make sure she didn't fall.

She put her hands out warily and I grab them with a smile. She returns it. I pretend to almost fall over, making fun of her current condition.

She sticks her tongue out at me.

I frown playfully. She furrows her eyebrows.

"What?" she asks.

"Very clever," I answer, confusing her more. Her eyes continue to question.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she says after I say nothing.

"That's a pretty desperate move to get out of wearing those extremely stylish clothes," I laugh. She smiles sheepishly finally realizing my joke. She places a hand on each of my shoulders.

"Well darn, I thought I'd escaped without notice," she retaliates equally playful. I smile but it drops when I see her scar that I had noticed while she was asleep. She raises an eyebrow and then follows the focus of my eyes.

She withdraws her arms and goes to grab her jacket. She begins to put it on but I walk over to her and place a hand on her arm. I look at her concerned. She starts to cry. I raise my hands to her face and use my thumbs to wipe away the descending tears.

"Please, not now," she answer. I could see her eyes flashing to the past as she looked at me.

I nod and then embrace her. She returns it, crying into my shoulder. I rub my hand against her back soothingly.

After she stops her light crying she withdraws.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to break down in front of you like that. Why don't you ever cry?" she asks at the end.

"Vampires can't cry," I answer simply.

She raises an eyebrow then sits down on the bed and motions for me to join her.

"So tell me the dos and don'ts of vampires," she answers trying to lighten the mood. I give in. I don't want her crying anymore.

"Well first of all we drink blood. But unlike regular vampires we are what we call "vegetarian". We only drink animal blood and restrain ourselves from our monstrous craving. We are young forever. We have super speed, super strength, granite like skin and some of us even have special powers," I explain.

"So how old are you?" she asks.

"I'm about 100 or so years old. But I was changed at 17. I don't really remember anything before I was changed. I get visions of when I was in the asylum but nothing from before. Nothing of my family," I answer trying to stay emotionless. She smiles sadly.

"Hmm," she answers pondering.

"Oh I almost forgot, Carlisle said I should ask you if you got one of your bad feelings before you passed out the second time," I ask remembering.

"Yes actually I did but I passed out before I could figure out what it is," she answers confused.

She frowns down at her feet.

"What?" I ask.

"You think my feelings are silly don't you," she says embarrassed. Her cheeks flush red.

"No. I just don't think I quite understand what you mean," I answer trying to sooth her embarrassment.

"Well I guess I'm kind of psychic but I don't actually see stuff. I just interpret it from dreams, and other strange occurrences," she tries to explain.

I stare at her still mostly confused.

"Ok well the night I met you. I had a dream on the plane of our exact meeting. Everything was the same as when it happened except I didn't get to the part where I saw you. And then when I got to my house and Charlie left, my body just goes cold and I guess my eyes probably glaze over. I don't see anything. But it's like I'm trying to connect with the spirits or whatever of the world. After that something usually happens. Like for that time, a book nearby was blown open to a page that told me basically where to find you," she finishes and I nod at the end and throughout her explanation.

"Very interesting. So you are psychic through your dreams," I state and almost ask.

"I guess," she answers. I could tell she was still embarrassed trying to explain her odd behavior.

"And then it's reinforced by signs giving you better detail," I inquire further.

"Closest thing I can figure," she answers, shrugging.

"Hmm," I finish getting over my curiosity.

I remembered about her food which was probably cold by now. I frowned to myself.

"What's wrong?" she asks looking at me.

"I made you a fabulous breakfast and it's probably cold by now. Come on," I answer getting off the bed, while thinking about what more elaborate breakfast I could now make with no time limit.

"Wait Alice," she requests, grabbing my hand.

"What?" I look back curious. She wraps me in her arms around my neck, forcing her face into the crook of my neck. I am confused by the random display of affection but return it nonetheless. I wrap my arms around her waist.

"Thank you," she murmurs softly.

"For what?" I whisper.

"Telling me," she answers, smiling against me now.

"I couldn't go and mess things up again. I might've exploded if I had to go a week without you again. I'm a quick learner," I joke. She laughs softly. I let a smile creep across my lips, not at my joke but at how it caused her happiness.

She continues to stay against me. I have a vision. I smile.

"Are you ever going to let go?" I ask poking fun.

She releases her arms around my neck and tries to move away. She frowns. I smile. She tries harder to release herself from my grasp. I lean toward her still smiling. I place a quick kiss on her cheek and then release her. She tumbles back and falls down onto her bottom.

She blinks rapidly, obviously confused.

"Come on slowpoke. Aren't you hungry?" I laugh looking back at her adorably pathetic body slumped on the floor. I had fight the urge to go to her.

She smiles and follows me.

____________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N: Reviews and critiques always appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8: Memories and Secrets

**A/N: I do not own Twilight or its characters. Enjoy!**

Chapter 8 – Movies and Secrets:

1 Month Later

APOV:

Much of this past month in school with Bella has been the same. It has been filled with sleepovers, movies, and trips to Port Angeles which unfortunately did not include any shopping.

However I am happy to say that I finally conned her into going on one with me. I can barely contain myself.

The seconds tick by even slower. I never thought it was possible to want time to go faster. Now I know what Bella is talking about. I never felt this when I was with Jasper, probably because we had forever, or so I thought. I felt time slow a little every time I was not around her, but nothing like this.

I see her in the hallway, as the bell finally rings and I emerge from class. Her class is right across from mine. We head off to lunch.

I ignore the stares and focus on my friend, feeling the yearning for her pick at me. She seems tired.

"You look tired, are you alright?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah I just have trouble sleeping when you don't come over. I get worried that when you are out at night that something is going to happen to you," she stifles a yawn at the end. I wait for her to continue.

"I know you're indestructible and everything but I'm just paranoid and I worry," she finishes, turning her attention to her feet.

"Bella," I say, stopping her and pulling her to the side.

"Yes," she looks down sheepishly. I grab her chin and force it up so I can look into her eyes.

"Would it make you feel better if I came over every night?" I ask, hesitantly.

"Yes, but I don't want you to feel like you have to," she mumbles, cheeks flushing bright red.

"You obviously have no idea how boring it is to sit in a house where you just stay up all night," I joke.

"And going over to someone's house to watch them sleep is fun," she banters, raising an eyebrow to go with her smirk.

"I actually find it very interesting to watch you sleep," I answer, matter-of-factly. She cocks her face towards me.

"When did you watch me sleep?" she asks, probably thinking I was a stalker.

"Do you remember cracking your head open, passing out, and waking up lying in my lap? Any of this ring a bell?" I tease, although I must admit that I'd stopped by her house a couple other times after that day.

"Oh, right," she nods, letting that goofy grin appear on her face. I laugh and shake my head. She looks at me with a questioning look.

"Nothing, let's get to class," I answer, still giggling. She pouts but follows soon after.

I tell her that I would meet her tonight. Time ticks by slowly as I wait until about 9:30, assuming that was a reasonable time.

I dart out the door and to Bella's house.

I perch myself in the tree outside. I am just about to jump in her window but it is closed and she is changing. I turn around. I drop to the ground and pick up a few blades of grass and roll them into tight little balls.

I jump back onto the branch. I could see she was done changing.

I threw a little grass ball and thankfully it didn't break her window or even make a crack. I sigh happily. I threw another and Bella turns.

She is confused but smiles when she sees me.

"Hey," she whispers after she opens the window. She then steps to the side and I jump inside.

"Thanks, and goodnight," I answer smiling.

She just looks at me for a second but then surprises me with a hug which I return after the initial shock. I still haven't gotten used to her spontaneity. She pulls back.

"Well what are you waiting for?" I ask, with a teasing tone. She looks at me strangely and then shrugs.

"You have so much sleep to catch up on and I want you fully rested for tomorrow," I answer continuing to tease. She pouts, instantly knowing what I was talking about. Tomorrow we get to go shopping.

"Come on, don't be like that," I pout and then place a kiss on her cheek.

A smile replaced the frown but she let her head sag to the side. I laugh but start to push her gently over to her bed. She gets under the covers. I walk over to her desk and straddle the back of the seat.

She gives me an odd look but turns over and snuggles into her covers. She tosses every few minutes. She tries every possible position to lie in. She laid on her right side then shifts to her left side. After that she goes back to her right, then tries her back, and then tries her stomach. All this takes a half hour.

"Bella, what's wrong? I'm right here," I ask, before she had the chance to move her head to where her feet are. It would not have surprised.

"What? I'm trying to go to sleep," she states innocently, peeking out from under the covers.

"Could've fooled me. It looks like you've been doing some weird exercise program for the past half hour," I answer teasing.

She pouts and returns her face under the covers. I sigh. Great I upset her. I dismount the chair and walk over to her side of the bed. I pull the covers from her face. Beautiful. _Don't try anything funny I'm watching._ I roll my eyes at myself mentally.

"I'm sorry to tease you, Bella, but what's wrong? I'm obviously safe less than a few feet from you," I apologize, giving a tender smile.

"I know but I can't feel that you are alright. You don't even breathe so I can't even listen to make sure you are all right," she pouts.

"Sorry for being dead," I answer pouting, showing that I'm trying to lighten the mood.

"Alice, you know that's not it," she continues to pout. Aw too cute. _Stop it._

"Yeah I know but what do you want me to do?" I ask, even though I'm sure I know her answer. The question is if I can handle her request.

"Well, could you lay with me? It would only have to be tonight, and then I would probably be able to know that you would stay," she babbles.

I answer silently by moving over her, straddling her in the process. She looks wide eyed and holds her breath. I continue over her and slip under the covers with a smile. She releases her held in breath and returns the smile with one of her breathtaking ones.

"Like this," I answer, innocently, lying on my back and placing my hands behind my head. I looked over at her with a smile. She smirks, rolls her eyes, and then wraps her arms around me.

"No like this, silly vampire," she answers, laying her head against my collarbone. I frown slightly at the name.

I removed a hand from behind my head and placed it on her shoulder.

"Oh," I answer, playing dumb. She laughs, shaking her head against me. I press my face into her hair, and inhale. Pure bliss. She sighs happily.

"Well now you have to go to bed. No excuses," I answer.

"Mhmm," she answers, sleepily.

"I would've done this ages ago if I knew how easily you fell asleep just being held," I answer, giggling. However she sits up abruptly and I stop. She looks serious. I am thrown off. What did I say?

"It's not just being held. It's knowing you're safe," she answers, sounding hurt. I lean up and place a hand on her back, rubbing gently.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," I answer, soothingly.

"You mean a lot to me. You don't seem to realize how special you are and it's just incredible how no one else seems to tell you enough to make you see it," she explains and is crying softly by the end. I let her finish.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I just never really felt special until Jasper and then he left me for another man. It kind of just broke any confidence I had in myself," I answer, sadly.

She looks back at me warmly. She embraces me.

"I know, Alice. I'm just trying to show you that you are special. It just gets discouraging when you seem to feel that anyone could make me happy like you do," she explains against me. Her warm breath, slides over my back like lava. It feels so refreshing to the usual freeze.

"I'll try to accept it I guess," I answer, innocently. What else could I do? I don't want to upset her.

She leans back down, resting her head on the pillow. I follow and turn to face her. I lean over and kiss her on the cheek.

"You should get some sleep. I'm sorry I ruined your comfortable feeling," I answer softly. She puts a finger to my lips, too late. I giggle.

She sighs but smiles. She turns her back towards me. I realize that she no longer wants to cuddle. I pout to myself. Well it's my own fault.

Suddenly I feel her warm fingers wrap around my wrist. I look down at it then over to her. Her back is still towards me. She is trying to pull my arm. I let it relax enough for her to do with it as she pleases._ You are so perverted. It's Bella! She's not a weirdo like you. She's just going to pull it around her and NOTHING more!_

I sigh sadly to myself. I return my thoughts back to what is going on. Bella pulls my arm around her waist tightly. This movement forces my face into her shoulder and my body to be pressed tightly against hers. Not that I minded, of course. _Pervert._ Oh leave me alone and let me enjoy myself for once, I tell my voice.

"Can you hold me?" Bella asks quietly, interrupting my thoughts. It confuses me at first but then I slip my other arm in between her body and the bed. I lace my fingers with hers, which are over my other hand. I inhale on her shoulder.

"Like this?" I ask honestly curious.

"Yes that's perfect. You're perfect," she sighs happily, relaxing into me once again.

I'm perfect? _She's just trying to make you feel special. Don't read too much into it._ However even this negative thought could not force the smile, that Bella's comment put there, from my lips.

"You want to know a secret?" I ask happily.

"Hmm," she asks sleepily.

"You're perfect, too," I answer. She squeezes my fingers a little. I smile against her shoulder.

I close my eyes and listen to her heart slowly drift into a slow peaceful rhythm. I would've fallen asleep if I could have.

In The Morning

I open my eyes when I could start hearing the change of Bella's heart. I inhale deeply. I tame the beast after a moment of coaxing. The past month has helped me in learning to control it.

I lean onto my elbow closest to the bed so that I can reach her ear.

"Bella, I know you're awake," I answer suppressing a laugh as she starts to stretch.

She moans. I press my nose lightly against her neck. She stops in mid stretch and cocks her eyebrow up at me. I lift my head and smile.

"It stopped your objection, didn't it?"I answer innocently.

She smiles and then proceeds to rub her eyes. I release her and get out of bed.

"I'll be back in half an hour," I answer as I'm about to go towards the window.

"Wait," Bella blurts out before I even take the first step. I turn around. She is pouting. Oh damn, how could I forget?

I rush over to her side of the bed and kiss her sweetly on the cheek.

"Good morning, perfect Bella," I answer after pulling back. She smiles sheepishly as she blushes furiously. I smile down at her.

I just realize that her hair was pushed down in certain places and her night t-shirt is pulled far down on her left shoulder. I try not to let her hear my soft laughing but fail. Her appearance along with her expression was too much for me.

"What?" she asks embarrassed. I lean over and try to smooth out her hair. She blushes furiously again.

"Don't worry about it. You just look cute. Now hurry up and get ready. I'll be back shortly," I answer still laughing softly.

"Alice, it's not even 7. Why are we up so early?" she groans after looking at the clock.

"We want to have as much time as possible and I don't want to scare you with my driving. Now go shower and get dressed. I promise I'll be back before you know it," I answer and am out the window before I hear her mumble bye.

I smile to myself.

I pull up to her house in my yellow 911 Turbo. I cut the engine and rush to the door, not even caring if anyone saw me. I'm too excited.

She opens the door in a t-shirt. I sigh, irritated. She raises an eyebrow. I pout and grab her wrist, dragging her back up to her room.

"Wait, where are we going?" she asks confused.

"You are spending the day with me. Now stay there," I finish, motioning her to wait outside her closet.

I sift through her horrible wardrobe. I inhale a breath deeply and release it the same way. Time to improvise. My hands are a blur to Bella as I grab one of the few solid colored t-shirts. I rip the sleeves off the blue one I picked.

"Ah, ah, no peeking," I scold as her hair barely reaches my view. She sighs.

I find an unused sewing kit, covered in dust, above her dresser. I stitch it a little to give it what style I can. I then proceed to dig through all her jeans. I find one in the very back of the drawer. It looks like it will hopefully fit her as opposed to sagging off her like the ones she is currently wearing. There's nothing I can do shoe wise.

"Here put these on," I command, appearing out of her closet two minutes later.

"But-," she starts.

"Nope, there's no time to argue or to be embarrassed. Go on," I interrupt while retrieving a brush and the sewing kit again.

Although I was frustrated with her, I smile at her while I watched her undress. _You're sick. You're torturing this poor girl_.

"Oh shut up," I mumble to myself.

"Huh," she asks while slipping the top over her head.

"Nothing, now hold still," I answer avoiding her question. I lean over and place her foot onto my knee. I adjust the hems.

"Are you mad at me?" she asks sadly. I finish both legs and place her foot back down on the ground. I look up at her and smile.

"No, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself for not forcing you to go shopping earlier," I answer trying to lighten the mood. She returns my smile.

I steer her over to her desk. I pull out the chair and bow extravagantly.

"Would you be so kind?" I ask, keeping a serious face. She giggles and I try to keep my serious face, failing miserably as she prissily sits down in the chair.

"Why, thank you ever so much," she answers, playing along.

I brush her hair and finally settle on a half up, half down hairstyle. I pull her chair out and as she is about to get up I place a hand firmly on her shoulder.

She turns around but I am kneeling down in front of her by the time her eyes reach behind her. She pouts and furrows her brow.

"Just a little," I half ask, half answer while holding up some lip gloss, hesitantly.

"Fine," she answers frowning.

I slip in between her legs, so that I "don't mess up the make-up". I hear her heart speed as I apply a little eye shadow. I hold her chin gently as I put the clear lip gloss and mascara on. I think I stopped breathing but I'm not completely sure. I am becoming disoriented being so close to her. I pause for half a second to recompose myself.

I put the container on her dresser and turn around to look at her final appearance. I place my hands on her thighs.

"Even more beautiful. I didn't think it was possible," I sigh happily.

She hit my shoulder, playfully before blushing violent pink. The air is heavy with want._ From you. Now get off her._

I sigh sadly and push myself up before I make a fool of myself. I thought I saw Bella start to protest._ No, it's just your imagination._

"Come on, let's go we're already late," I answer hiding my remorse from leaving her arms.

"Oh heaven forbid we don't get there as soon as they open the doors," she mocks, every word dripping with heavy sarcasm.

"Hey missy you better shape up or I'll force you into outfits that I wouldn't even wear," I am actually a little upset that she already isn't enjoying her time with me. I pout.

"What? I was just kidding," she answers confused.

I refuse to say anything until we were in the car. I open her door motioning for her to sit. I hold my hand out, which she grabs as she lowers herself in. She looks up at me. I shut the door, dropping our gaze.

I walk around to the other side at a human pace which is unbelievably slow.

I open the door and sit inside in the same fashion. I wave goodbye to Charlie and drive off slowly.

I keep my speed at 10 miles over the speed limit. Ugh. I want to go fast, especially now.

"Ali-," Bella starts after a few minutes of silence. I take my eyes off the road to look at her.

"Bella, it's ok. I'm just curious," I start then I return my gaze to the road although unnecessary. She grabs my hand.

"You really don't want to go shopping with me, do you?" I ask. I could tell that's not what she was expecting.

"Aw Alice, I'm sorry. It's not you; it's just shopping in general. I don't feel I know how to do it at all and I'm just tired of embarrassing myself," she explains, blushing. I relax. Ok it's not just the fact that it's me.

"I'm sorry but I just felt that since you have such a great body that you should love shopping. I thought you just liked putting on a show with all the groaning," I answer sheepishly and much happier.

"No, no I just really hate shopping because I don't like my body," she answers shyly. I open my mouth for a moment but don't let her see. I sit and think of something else to say.

"Hey I've got an idea," I blurt out, surprising myself and almost making Bella go through the roof. I smile apologetically as she rubs her head from the hard thump with the roof. You thought I was kidding.

I place a hand over the one she has on her head as she tries to force the tears back. She smiles.

"You were saying," she answers, giving me permission to continue.

"Right, so have you heard of that new vampire movie that's out?" I ask, excited.

She thought about it for a moment. She even goes to place her hand on her chin in "thinking fashion".

"Oh yeah, I think some of the kids at school were talking about it. What's it called? Uh, Neverplanet?" she replies. I giggle.

"It's called UnderWorld," I answer, still giggling. She pouts.

"Well now that you've made fun of me AGAIN, why did you bring it up?" she answers faking, I hope, annoyance.

"We should go see it," I answer like it was a "duh" answer.

"Hmm but that means that we'd miss out on more valuable shopping time," she answers hesitantly, obviously trying to contain some of her joy at the thought.

"Nonsense, there is a showing at 9:15 and most stores, other than the theater, close at 9 anyways. However I thought if you wanted to see the movie that we'd wrap up early so you could get something to eat," I rebut. She frowns at first, and then is smiling again by the end.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll call Charlie and tell him the change," she replies.

She dials the phone and I speed a little faster, unintentionally, to our destination.

"Ugh thank goodness that's over," Bella sighs deeply as we exit the last store, Victoria's Secret of course.

"You have to admit that you had fun," I answer smiling, as we walk out to the car.

"Ok I had fun but only because you were with me," she flatters. I smile widely, probably resembling her goofy grin. We put the rest of the bags in my car. They all just barely fit.

"And we got you a whole new wardrobe. I'm throwing all your old clothes out if you wear a t-shirt and jeans on Monday," I threaten. She groans but nods shortly after, giving in.

"Movie time?!" she asks excited but becomes sad when she saw the time was only 7:30.

"Where would you like to eat?" I ask ignoring her moping.

"I don't know. What do you want to watch me eat?" she jokes, poking fun.

"Come on. You like Italian right? Oh of course you do, everyone does," I ask. She nods. I gently tug her toward the other half of the mall.

"Here we are," I answer, stopping. She bumps very clumsily into me, not that I particularly felt it.

"Ferrozino's Real Italian Cuisine. Hmm sounds expensive. Why don't we just go to Taco Bell?" she mumbles.

"TACO BELL?!? You are such a bad eater. Even bordering on being a bad human. Seriously you should watch what you put into your body. Besides no arguing, we're going here," I scold. She folds her arms across her chest and frowns. I drag her in containing the smile that her pouting brought to my lips.

Once we were seated, we talk of Bella's life in Phoenix, my life before and during the Cullens, and even touch the subject of Bella becoming a vampire.

"I don't know, Bella. It's not as glamorous as one would assume. If something bad would happen to you then you would have to live with it for the rest of eternity," I answer, memories resurfacing in my mind, as we walked out of the restaurant. She places a hand on my shoulder.

I let her think about it as we walk over to get our tickets for the movie. I refuse to let Bella pay for it again. She huffs and crosses her arms across her chest again.

"Hmm we still have almost an hour left. Come on, I want to show you something," I answer after noticing the time.

I pull her so we are almost outside the mall. I see the sun is on the verge of setting. I look around before bending down.

"Get on," I command softly. She looks around and then climbs on, wrapping her arms around my neck. I turn around and look at her.

"You might want to close your eyes," I warn. She complies.

I rush out and up. Within seconds we are on the roof of the mall. I lean over and set Bella down. She opens her eyes and her jaw soon falls open as well.

I look down to see my skin sparkling as it should, like the Northern Lights. I smile over at her. I let her gape for a couple more minutes.

"Well this is only part of the reason that I brought you out here," I answer, frowning. It was not a good second reason; at least I'm sure it wouldn't be for her. She looks at me concerned.

"What's wrong, Alice?" she asks taking my hand in hers.

"Well it's been kind of hard not to notice with you wearing a short sleeve shirt and all. I mean I haven't brought it up in over a month and . . ." I start to babble like an idiot. _Moron 4, Grace 0._

"Oh," she answers softly, loosening her grip.

"Look I'm sorry but it just makes me feel bad when I don't even know where such a large scar came from on my favorite person in the world," I continue, trying to flatter at the end.

She drops her gaze to the ground, or technically to the roof. I wait.

"If you don't want to tell me it's all right. I just thought I'd at least ask," I answer feeling horrible. She brings her eyes back up to mine. They are already starting to shed tears.

"Alice," she mumbles as she moves towards me and grasps me tightly around the waist. She begins to sob slightly, against my shoulder. I wrap my arms gently around her, rubbing her back.

She starts to collapse. I scoop her up and proceed to sit down, Indian style. She cuddles against me more, burying her face in my neck.

"It's ok, Bella. Don't worry about it," I whisper softly into her ear. She only tries to grab harder and starts to sob once more.

She lay there against me for half an hour. I can't even begin to imagine what happened to my poor Bella. The scar was probably a foot long, stretching the entire length of her forearm.

"Bella, honey, if you still want to see the movie we should probably get seats. If you don't, I completely understand," I explain softly to her.

She removes her face from me and loosens her grip.

"No, I still want to see it," she answers trying to give me a sincere smile.

I stand up still holding her. She smiles.

"That's a keeper," I joke. She giggles. I set her down hesitantly. She hugs me again and then pulls back wiping her eyes. I smile. Good thing I put on waterproof mascara. I mentally pat myself on the back.

"Oh wait we're still on the roof," she says, stopping near the edge.

I bend over and she climbs on. I scale down the side instead of just jumping. I didn't want to scare her.

I set her down, reluctantly, again. She looks down at her watch.

"Oh crap, come on there's only 5 minutes until it starts," she gasps, grabbing my hand and pulling me in that direction.

I let her pull me, giggling.

Well the movie is not a corny one which is good and Kate Beckinsale was hot in her leather outfit. I wonder if Bella noticed. Every time a gunshot went off "unexpectedly" Bella freaked out. It was pretty hilarious to see. I didn't mind since after the first time she cuddled with me and didn't stop until the end with her eyes glued to the screen, save a few moments.

"So did you like it?" I ask, as we walk out.

"Yeah, it was full of action," she answers happily. I think about all the other meanings for that. I smile. She links her arm through mine as we walk. I think she was scared since it was almost midnight.

"There's no need to be afraid, Bella. I'm ten times scarier than anyone we'd run in to," I answer, trying to soothe her. She pouts.

"Only when you can't help it," she argues.

"I can be scary when I want to," I mumble, ashamed that I was actually arguing with her about this.

She stops and turns to look at me once we were outside. She stares at me a while. She looks both concerned and like she was contemplating on her answer.

"Hey lesbos, sorry to ruin your moment," a large man answers stepping out of the shadows.

I had known he was there but by the sound of Bella's heartbeat, she hadn't. Her breath catches and she grabs me a little tighter.

"I saw you two cuddling through that whole movie so there's no need to deny it. The problem is that you girls went and made me all horny. I need a release," he finishes, stepping closer and pulling out a knife.

Bella's breath catches again and her heart beat increases as well. I am having trouble not sucking him dry. Damn bastard. How dare he even think about hurting my Bella.

"Yeah well you're just going to have to go fuck off somewhere else," I answer, menacingly. He hesitates. I smirk. I had scared him. However he tries to raise the knife to Bella's throat.

I snatch the knife and lunge at him. I force him into a brick wall, careful enough not to kill him but hard enough to hear an audible moan escape his lips in pain.

"If you ever do anything like this again, I'll cut your dick off and feed it to you," I threaten, becoming very tense.

Bella snaps out of her daze and runs over to me.

"Alice, let him go. I know he's an ass but you're going to hurt him if you don't calm down," she answers, tugging on my arm. She is right. I am tenser than I thought. I laugh to myself as the guy gawks at us.

"Fine," I answer, releasing him. He drops and just sits there dumbfounded.

"You remember what I said about your dick the next time you need a release. And trust me I'll know," I threaten, tapping my finger against my temple. I then flash my canines and a look of pure horror crosses his face. He tries to mold his body into the wall.

I turn around and walk to the car, without looking at Bella. I knew that she was following though.

"Alice," she says looking at me once we are in the car.

"What a bastard," I mumble, trying to change the focus off me.

"I know. Anyone who thinks someone as beautiful as you is a lesbian is clearly mental," she answers sadly. I raise an eyebrow. I wasn't expecting that.

"What? I just meant the fact that he tried to rape us," I return.

"I know but you seemed to handle it harsher than I thought you would've. I thought he had offended you with the lesbo comment," she mumbles, looking away.

I drop my gaze as well. Was I offended? Did I over react because he called us lesbos? I didn't think I was but the more I thought about it, the more Bella made sense. I normally would've gotten out of there before anything happened.

"Alice, I'm a lesbian," she says, interrupting my thoughts. I look over to her slowly.

"That's cool Bella," I answer, not knowing what else to say.

"I say this because I've dealt with stuff like this before. I've learned to ignore it, no matter how much it hurts. I know that you aren't. I mean you were married to Jasper for years. I just wanted to say this because I wanted to let you in. It's hard for me but I want to know all about you and I know it's hard for you to open up so I'm setting an example I suppose," she explains. I look intently at her.

"Well thank you, Bella," I answer still a little confused at where this is going.

"This is about my scar. It's the worst story and I've basically just tried to forget but it is forced to the surface every time I look down at my arm. It's not a story that I've ever told before. I never even told Renee. Whatever she knows is based on assumption," she continues. My eyes widen.

"Bella, you don't have to tell me," I tell her realizing that this is a very hard thing for her to do.

"Yes I do. I want to know you. I know you want to know me," she answers, smiling.

"Ok," I answer softly.

"Well you can drive while I tell. This might take a while and I don't want to be late," she answers.

I start the car and pull out of the parking space and out to the streets that will take us home.

"Well first off I should say that I've had 1 girlfriend. Her name was Valerie. She was my best friend since the 3rd grade. I honestly thought that she would be my first and last. It was funny when I admitted my attraction toward her. She was completely relieved and kissed me," she starts, sighing happily at the end. Her smile quickly drops.

"Valerie and I were out on our 6-month anniversary date. We were in the park on a romantic stroll which was her idea of course," she answers smiling again. Memories flash across her eyes. Remorse engulfs her face again before she continues.

"We were jumped in the middle of the park. After we were tied up, gagged, and thrown into the back seat of a car, we woke up in an unfamiliar apartment. They had knives and were already undressing Valerie. Of course I didn't remain clothed for long. They were laughing and joking about how the reason we were lesbians was because we weren't taken by real men and all that crap," she continues until she stops. I let her gather herself, placing a hand on her thigh. She breathes in.

"They forced me to give one of them a blowjob while they forced Valerie to watch and made dumb comments. Then of course they made her as well. While she did she bit down hard. Hopefully the bastard won't ever be able to use it again," she ends spitefully. I fear that the bad part was coming.

"Unfortunately, this did not go unpunished. The guy I was with pulled his knife and sliced me where my scar is. He pulled his pants up and moved over to Valerie. I got up and jumped on him. Valerie went and punched her assailant a few times. Mine threw me off and stabbed me in the stomach, in between my organs luckily. She turned around to have the other guy puncturing her in the rib. She fell back and time stopped for me. All I remember is that I somehow found a gun and blew the guy's head off. I then crawled over to Valerie. She told me to call an ambulance and the police. I did as she told me to, not leaving her side. I cried as she died in my arms before the ambulance and police arrived," she finishes. Her voice is cracking through the whole thing. She starts crying near the beginning and stains her shirt thoroughly by the end.

I pull the car over. We were only about 5 minutes from the house when she finishes. I look into her eyes and I would've cried if I could've. I'm surprised I didn't do the impossible and actually do so. She places her hand on mine which was still on her knee.

"Bella," was all I could get out. She hugs me tightly, sobbing furiously now. I return the hug as tightly as I could without hurting her.

"It's ok. You don't have to say anything, Alice. I knew that she loved me. She told me before she died that I couldn't blame myself and that I should be happy. It's all she wanted," she answers against me, between sobs.

I say nothing and just bury my face into her neck, inhaling the essence of her.

"I don't want to be late," she forces after a few minutes.

"Right," I answer pulling back and driving back onto the road.

I help her bring her things inside, up to her room. After we finish she holds my arm as we are walking to the front door. We walk out and close it behind us.

"You're coming back right?" she asks hopefully. I reach my hand up to her cheek, grazing my fingertips across it.

"Thursday was the last night you'll spend alone," I answer smiling. She smiles and hugs me again.

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**A/N: Reviews are still greatly appreciated. **


	9. Chapter 9: Restlessness

**A/N: I do not own Twilight or its characters. **

Chapter 9 - Restlessness:

APOV:

Bella is restless in sleep for the first few hours. She keeps mumbling my name with a pained expression. I hear her mumble Valerie once as well.

I can't stand seeing her in pain knowing I can't do anything about it. All I can do is stroke her sides and whisper it would be alright.

After that didn't work I dare to kiss her cheek, then her jaw, and down her neck to her shoulders. I laugh to myself as she immediately relaxed. _She's probably thinking of Valerie. Don't get full of yourself._

I sigh sadly once again won over by my inner voice's logic. I snuggle closer to her as I close my eyes and listen to her sleep for the next several hours.

I let her sleep until 11 then softly wake her.

"Bella," I whisper in her ear. She moans and pulls me closer to her.

"Bella, sweetie, it is past 11. You probably want to get up. Charlie left," I laugh as she snuggles even closer. She turns around and faces me.

"Hey," she mumbles, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, are you ok? You were tossing a lot at first," I ask hesitantly.

"Yeah just a bad dream. I dreamed about Valerie. I also dreamed about you. Both unfortunately unpleasant," she answers. I did not miss her other meaning in what she said but I did ignore it for the time being. _You mean what you wanted it to mean. Tsk tsk._

I lean onto an elbow and look down at her. I then lift a hand to her face, tracing a finger down the side.

"I'm sorry," is all I can think of. She puts her hand over mine and smiles.

"It's not your fault. In fact I think you helped to stop them after a little while," she answers, blushing. I smile again, holding in a laugh as I remember what stopped her tossing.

"So do you have any homework?" I ask, regretting it immediately. What a dull subject to bring up at this peaceful time! _Good going idiot._

She raises and eyebrow and then laughs. _Moron 5, Grace 0. At this rate you'll be up to a thousand in less than half a year._

"Nope I did it all Friday night before you came," she answers happily.

"Good so that means I have you all to myself again," I joke.

"Looks like it," she raises an eyebrow suggestively. I pretend to gasp. She grins, goofily.

"So why don't you take a shower and I'll make you some breakfast?" I offer, breaking the silence. I kiss her on the cheek and get out of bed before she can disagree. She groans and reaches out too late for my hand, almost falling out.

I walk to the end of the bed and yank the comforter off. She shivers and then leans up to throw me a death glare. I smirk. She gets up and stomps out of the room to the bathroom.

I worry that I actually upset her so I walk into the bathroom and hug her from behind tentatively. She turns around in my arms and throws her arms around my neck, forcing her face into my shoulder and inhaling.

"I wasn't mad, just trying to make you feel guilty," she smirks, leaning up to look in my eyes at the end.

"Well you accomplished your goal," I answer pouting.

I leave her to shower, ignoring how much I want to stay. I float down the stairs and start breakfast.

By the time I have cooked pancakes, eggs, and bacon, and even found a grapefruit half, she emerges from around the corner. I pour her some orange juice and milk as she sits down. I join her in the seat next to her.

"Why do they have both milk and orange juice in breakfast commercials? Don't people usually drink one or the other?" I ask before she had time to complain about all the food I made for her. I was actually curious about the answer nonetheless.

"That is a mystery to most of the human population actually. All I know is that it is customary to do so. It might be because there's quite a few people who are lactose intolerant and they don't want to disregard one or the other," she answers sounding very pleased with her explanation.

"Have you not ever thought about it before?" I ask further, wondering if it was an odd question. She swallows the bite of pancake which she seems to enjoy.

"I have but I kind of just gave up because there didn't seem to be one definite answer," she replies, still appearing to enjoy the topic.

She looks up at my still curious face and smiles widely at me.

"What?" I question.

"You look so cute when you are baffled," she answers smiling wider, after she swallows another bite of pancake. She then moves to the eggs. I return her smile.

"So what are we doing?" she asks after finishing her eggs.

I pick up her plate and take it over to the sink to wash if off, smiling slyly.

"What? Come on," she urges.

"No it's a surprise," I answer, sighing happily.

She comes up behind and wraps her arms around my waist. Oh my God. She's way too close. I know I was this close before but her scent is refreshed from the shower. I also haven't hunted in a few days. She nuzzles her face into my shoulder. Yeah definitely way too close.

"Please," she pleads seductively, I think.

I unwrap her arms from me and bolt to the other side of the room in a fraction of a second. I am not facing her while I breathe in deeply a few times, concentrating only on it.

I finally turn to look at her and she is crying.

"Bella, I'm sorry I just couldn't have you that close right now," I answer, looking at her with black eyes.

She sniffs and wipes her tears. She nods gently. I step forward slowly to comfort her.

"Please go hunt. I don't want to be a burden," she mumbles, stopping me in my stride.

I drop my head ashamed and then turn.

"You're not a burden, you're my beautiful yet intoxicating curse," I say before I run out the door.

Shortly After …

After I hunt I had trouble going back to Bella. I don't think I can handle it if she's just like this with all girls that she is friends with. What if she doesn't like me the way I like her? True she told me she was a lesbian but it was important to the story that I wanted to know. It didn't necessarily mean that she wanted me to know otherwise.

I ponder this for a moment outside her back door then I jump slightly when she opens it.

She is equally surprised but the sadness from earlier remains as well.

I look into her eyes for a moment. I think I see a glimpse of the want that I was no doubt emitting from my own eyes.

A vision struck. My eyes glaze over. My body stiffens.

"Alice? Alice, Alice!" she urges. Bella stood in front of me clasping my arms.

I threw my arms around her and nuzzle into her neck, inhaling her scent deeply.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I have another surprise before the one I was originally planning," I answer smiling against her.

"What is it?" she asks pulling back to look at me.

"Can I pick you up?" I ask in return, unable to contain my wide smile.

"Sure," she answers, hesitantly.

I scoop her up bridal style before she finishes. She grabs my shirt in surprise. I force it out of my mind. I rush off to the house.

"Alice what did you see?" she asks as I run, holding her.

"I told you it's a surprise," I answer playfully scolding.

"Not even a hint?" she asks, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Fine if you want to ruin the surprise. There's going to be a lightning storm," I answer, as we reach the house and Edward comes out the front door. I beam at him. He smiles in return and gathers everyone else.

We rush off to the area.

"Alice, I don't get it. What's so great about a lightning storm?" she asks as we reach the field.

"We're going to play baseball," I answer gleefully. I set her down, regretfully. It felt so nice.

"Why do you have to wait for a lightning storm?" she asks, cutely confused.

"Because we hit so loud that it sounds like thunder. But don't worry you don't have to play. You can watch, if you can keep up," I answer smirking.

She fakes being upset then smiles. I leave her with Esme, the referee. I walk over to the pitcher's mound and the lightning fast baseball game begins. Emmett, Jasper, and I versus Rosalie, Carlisle, and Edward. It wouldn't be fair to have all gifted on one side.

Of course there was cheating but it was to be expected and it's all in good fun. However Emmett and Edward always manage to get in a fight. I steal glances over at Bella when I can. She seems to be enjoying herself.

It was our turn to start hitting when I froze. Eyes glazed. Body stiffened.

The smile dropped from my face. The ball flew past me. Everyone looked strangely at me.

"Someone is coming," I comment shortly. Soon after everyone picks up on the scents of the three approaching vampires I had just seen.

We all move in around the pitcher's mound, waiting.

"They drink human blood," Edward mutters softly, just before they appear.

One blond, one red, and one dark haired. All with blood red eyes. Just as I saw.

"Hello," answers the dark-haired one.

"Hello, we are the Cullens. I am Carlisle, my wife Esme, my sons Edward, Jasper, and Emmett, and my daughters Alice and Rosalie," Carlisle answers politely, gesturing to each of us in turn. The air is tense.

"I am Laurent and this is James and Victoria," he answers in return gesturing to the blond first and then the red head.

"We must ask that you please not feed in this area," Carlisle continues.

"That's alright we just fed the other day. What are you all doing here?" Laurent replies.

"We were playing baseball," Carlisle answers.

"May we join you? Just one game," he asks egging us on.

"I don't know," Carlisle answers hesitating.

"Just one and then we will leave," Laurent insists.

"All right, just one," Carlisle caves out of politeness, however everyone is still tense.

"Hell yeah, let's kick their asses," Emmett booms. A tense smile graces everyone's lips but mine. I'm not letting my guard down with Bella here. I wish Carlisle wasn't polite and told them to "Fuck off". He can't help it though. It's just not who he is.

"We'll see," Laurent jabs.

Everyone turns to take various positions on the field. Suddenly there is a breeze. James' eyes shot over to Bella after catching her scent.

"You brought a snack," he replies, eyes growing in thirst.

A what?! I immediately crouch down and move in front of Bella, protectively letting a roar erupt from deep within my chest.

"No you mustn't. This is Bella, one of our friends," Carlisle answers quickly.

Disgust clouds their features and I feel the red head glaring vehemently at me. My eyes are locked on the blond, waiting for any slight change of movement.

"We will be back," the blond finally manages before he bolts off. The red head soon follows but Laurent remains.

"This is bad," he mumbles after a moment. I remain crouched in front of Bella, lips pulled back from my teeth.

"I'm sorry but you must keep him away from Bella. He can't have her," Carlisle answers forcefully.

"I can't. This is not my coven. It is his. Worse yet, he is a tracker and deadly one at that. He will not stop hunting her until he has her or you kill him," he answers softly.

"You must help us then," Carlisle urges.

"I will not. He is far too dangerous but I do wish you luck," Laurent replies. With that he dashes off into the forest in the opposite direction that James did.

I still remain crouched in front of Bella as everyone exchanges worried glances. I reluctantly rise from my crouch.

"What are we going to do?" I am the first to mumble what everyone is thinking.

"We must find a way to take out James. That is the only way. His thoughts were utterly transfixed on different ways to kill Bella. So many different ways. It is true what Laurent said. There is so much fixation that there is no way he will stop," Edward replies softly. I cringe as I am hit with visions of all the ways that had gone through and continue to go through James' mind.

I turn around and look at Bella. Terror has engulfed her eyes.

"I am so sorry, Bella. I promise I will make you safe again at whatever cost," I answer, pulling her into an embrace. She grips me tightly.

"It's ok, Alice. It's not your fault," she answers against me. I am about to argue that it is completely my fault when Carlisle speaks.

"Let's go home and make a plan. Edward and Jasper stay close to Alice and Bella," Carlisle proposes. They nod in acceptance.

I lean over while still in our hug and sweep Bella's legs out from under her. I give her a timid smile and we all turn to head back to the house.

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**A/N: Reviews are considered and I love to hear your feedback.**


	10. Chapter 10: The Transformation

**A/N: I do not own Twilight or its characters. Enjoy!**

Chapter 10 – The Transformation:

BPOV:

I smile timidly back at Alice as she carries me off to her house.

I think about the past month and a half. It has been the best time of my life. It was helping me get over the whole incident with Valerie. To most people it would've seemed that I got over it about a week after Valerie was murdered. Only Renee could tell that even now, almost a year later, I hadn't gotten over her.

Now with Alice, I feel that I'm truly starting to mend. Of course I still think about Valerie but I know that she wouldn't have wanted me to mourn over her for this long.

_I'm finally doing it Val_, I tell her wherever she is.

I think about how Alice protected me so fiercely back at the field. Why would she have done that? It's not like it would really be that big of a deal if that blond vampire had taken me as "a snack".

My thoughts then go back to what Jasper told me. Could I really make her that happy? There's no way. I mean it's not like she loves me any more than a good friend. A best friend. She is probably nice to my affection because I'm her first friend in over 100 years.

I could've sworn there were times when she enjoyed me holding her. _Well of course. She no longer has Jasper so she needs her best friend to comfort her. It's got to be hard for her to find another vampire and also actually like them._

That makes sense. I guess I was just hoping too much. _Damn right you were hoping too much._

Ok, ok. But I still needed to ask her. What can I say? I'm naturally curious.

"Alice?" I ask, as she continues to run, carrying me.

"Yes?" she replies, turning her gaze to me continuing through the forest. She looks worried.

"Why did you protect me so fiercely?" I ask further.

She looked shaken by my question. Her eyes were debating. She sighs softly before answering.

"Bella, can we talk about this later? We need to figure out a way to deal with James," she pleads.

"Yeah, of course, sorry," I mumble, laying my head against her shoulder.

The fact that she didn't want to talk about it means that there is something more than her just protecting her friend right? She probably doesn't want to talk about it with Jasper and Edward running only a few feet from us. _Don't get your hopes up._

I sigh softly, trying to listen to the voice since it was probably right.

We reach the house shortly after and she sets me down on the ground.

"What the hell are we doing protecting her?" Rosalie is the first to voice her opinion once we reach the house. Alice growls menacingly and pulls her lips slightly back from her teeth.

"You know we have to protect all of our family and Bella is now in our family," Carlisle answers scolding Rosalie's harshness.

Emmett puts a hand on Rose's shoulder which she shrugs off fiercely.

"No, since when does she deserve to be considered part of this family. Alice has known her for what a month and a half. They aren't even going out, they're just friends," Rose states growing in anger and shoots a look at Alice. Was she questioning if we really were only friends?

God I can't take this. I really want to talk to Alice about this. I look next to me at Alice to see that she is already looking intently at me.

She tears her gaze away and turns back towards Rose.

"You're right. We are only friends. But that doesn't mean that she is any less important to me. You have Emmett. Edward has Jasper. And Carlisle has Esme. She's all I have for just me Rose," she states sadly. Rose looks away.

I would've cried though I didn't want to seem more pathetic than I already am to a bunch of vampires. I wanted to be Alice's everything but I would settle to be whatever she wanted of me.

There is a silence that sets over the room. I see Rose has remorse on her features. She very rarely ever seems sorry for anything she says and she never admits she is wrong even if she realizes it or at least I've never seen it. However that isn't saying much since I have, as she said, only been around them less than two months. She seems like a very proud person, or vampire.

In a way I've always envied Rose. Of course her beauty is unparalleled, but she also always seems to know what she wants and goes for it. However she does seem to have a self loathing about her as well. Alice told me of her story once but even before I could tell that she never really wanted anything other than the simple life of a family and children. She never seemed to like being a vampire.

As a matter of fact, none of the Cullens really seem to like themselves. They knew that in the most basic sense of the term that they were considered monsters no matter whether they are vegetarian vampires or not.

Even my poor Alice.

She always seems to want to be around me I suppose but also that she acts like she had to concentrate on being very careful as well. Always vigilant to danger that she feared she was putting me in.

"So what are we going to do?" Rose finally questions breaking the eternity of silence.

Alice looked up at her and gave her a small smile. It was small things like that where you could tell that Rose cared but she never really said she was sorry.

"We got to burn the fuckers," Emmett booms, earning smiles from everyone but Esme.

"Emmett language," she says hitting him on the shoulder.

"I think she meant how do we go about 'burning the fuckers'," Edward clarifies. Esme shot a withering stare at Edward for repeating Emmett's vulgar choice of words.

Alice sneaks a glance at me. I smile reassuringly.

She returns it and grabs my hand, lacing our fingers. I always feel safe when she did this. She turns back to her family.

After I try to stifle a yawn, Alice quickly jerks her head in my direction and furrows her eyebrows.

"We must find a way to lure James away while we find a safe haven for Bella," Carlisle starts.

"If this tracker is as good as Laurent says then there will be no safe haven for Bella for very long," Jasper adds gravely.

Edward leans over toward him. He grabs his hand and laces their fingers as Alice did with mine. I sometimes forget that Jasper and Edward are together. They don't show it very much. Jasper leans his head on Edward's shoulder and then looks over at me. The look seemed to say "This may be a hard situation but we'll figure something out. It will be ok."

"Are you tired Bella?" Alice suddenly asks. I look sheepishly at my feet. She squeezes my hand.

"No I'm alright. We need to figure this out," I answer still looking down.

"Can we reconvene in a few hours? It will give everyone time to run through various ideas, and then we can avoid the arguing," Alice explains, turning to everyone.

Everyone had obviously heard our earlier exchange and Rose rolls her eyes. I blush furiously continuing my thorough examination of the floorboards. Alice let out a soft giggle, causing me to blush even deeper.

My eyes focus suddenly on the movement over by Jasper and Edward. They look almost as if they were now clothed statues.

I release my hand from Alice's grip. She cocks her head at me but I was already turning around and reaching for the door knob.

Alice's arms snake around my waist, pulling me away from the door. She places her head on my shoulder.

"Bella, there is no need to feel ashamed. You can't help that you are tired or that you blush. It's just going to take some time for the others to get used to. It's not your fault," she whispers into my ear.

"I don't like to be a burden to you and your family. Yet here I am putting all of you in danger because my blood is more appealing than most to vampires," I reply choking my sobs back.

She releases her arms from my waist and walks around to my front. She gently grabs my chin in between her thumb and pointer finger and lifts it so I am no longer looking at the ground.

"Bella do you trust me?" she whispers looking into my eyes. She drops her hand from my chin and holds it out to me as if giving me the choice. If only she knew that I no longer could control my choices. Anything she asks, I will agree to.

"Of course, Alice," I answer somberly, slipping my hand into her outstretched one.

"Good cause I'm everything you need me to be. May I pick you up?" she asks further, smiling widely. I nod, letting a smile creep onto my face at the lyrics from my song to her.

She bends over slightly and scoops my legs out from under me. No matter how many times she did this I still grab onto her shirt involuntarily. It's not that I thought she would drop me but more that I want to take as many moments to be as close as possible to her. Maybe that's a little perverted but I just can't help it.

And of course she smiles at my action every time. I blush furiously again before she turns around to look at Edward one more time and without a word she turns back around, opens the door and bolts out into the woods.

I cuddle into her as she runs. I don't bother talking since she's obviously got a plan on where we are going. I just close my eyes and relish in the essence that is Alice.

"Bella," she whispers a few moments later. I open my eyes and am granted with a beautiful sight.

She's looking down at me. Her eyes are happier than they have been the past few hours. She also seems more at ease overall. I can still see the slight vigilance though. I can't blame her. I mean there is a killer vampire tracking me down right now.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. You are just so comfy," I answer smiling. She giggles softly and returns my smile.

"I wasn't aware that cold dead things are all that comfortable," she jokes, raising an eyebrow. I pout.

"Well, you always have been one of a kind," I jest on, grinning stupidly. She rolls her eyes and smiles.

She sets me down in sand. I wasn't aware of the fact that we were at the beach where we first met until now.

She leans over and grabs my calf, much like the first night, as she starts trying to remove my shoes. She looks back up at me with a sheepish smile on her face.

Once I remove her shoes as well, I find it to be a fun idea to try and run away, trying to have her catch me. Bad idea.

Alice freezes in her position she gets when a vision hits her as I turn back to see if she's following. I'm about 20 feet or so away from her but I can tell that as the vision ends, a look of pure horror crosses her face.

Oh shit. Did I decide to try and kiss her or something?

Just as I finish that thought I am scooped off the ground so hard that I accidentally bit my tongue.

"Ow, what the hell, Alice?" I moan.

It wasn't Alice.

I look down. For one, Alice never carried me over her shoulder whether she surprised me or not. Secondly, I'm pretty sure by now that Alice definitely doesn't have long blond hair. And third, Alice would never be caught in those shoes.

"ALI-," I start to scream but I am jerked forward and a large, hard hand is clasped over my mouth.

It was James. And his blood red eyes.

Of course. My danger magnet status has doomed me once again. He flashes a wicked smile before picking up speed towards only he knows where.

I see a flash of red shoot off in the opposite direction we are going. Probably Victoria off to keep the others busy. Tears start rolling down my cheeks.

As James continues on, my thoughts return to my time so far with Alice.

I remember the night after Alice finally returned over a month ago.

_I woke after I feel my hair pushed out of my face. Such nice delicate fingers. _

_We exchange good mornings and then Alice makes the mistake of surprising me with a "you better wake up and get home before you're grounded" comment. Of course I being a total spaz shot out of bed, hitting her in the process. She is hard. Like rock hard. I'm too busy freaking out to dwell on it long. But hitting her wasn't the best part. Oh no. I end up flailing off the bed and cracking my head open on the night stand. _

_Even though I am losing blood, and probably my mind, I swear I see her eyes roll back in her head like she just smelled something really good. It is probably my imagination. _

_I find her sitting next to me a few moments later. Or at least I think it was. _

_I vaguely remember her calling Carlisle and then her whole family was at the door. I think I hear snarling but I can't really be held by that. Then I hear one that is really loud and more like a roar. It is awesome. After all the others are no longer heard Carlisle must somehow have an understanding that she is leaving._

_I am out for the most part. I can tell when it is Alice's hands versus Carlisle's. They are both cold but there is something different about Alice's._

_Her eyes are so beautiful when I reopen mine. We joke around._

_I can tell she wants to say something. I hope it's not to apologize. It wasn't her fault._

_She's a what? No way is she going to tell me this right now is she? Oh she's a vampire. Well thank goodness. _

_She seems shocked by my reaction. Almost to the point of being insulted. Well I guess the joking about it was a little much. _

_Next thing I know she's pinning me to the wall and sniffing me neck. I'll admit I was a little scared but I knew she wouldn't do anything. I just put on a show so that she would feel better. I can pretend I'm scared very well if I want to. I can even make it so my heartbeat quickens and my pupils dilate. _

_She seems to buy it. She looks worried though. Carlisle comes in the door looking worried. Did he really think Alice would hurt me?_

_I get up off the bed and did a really lame count Dracula impression and accent. I accidentally put my tongue against her shoulder and she stiffens. She rushes to the window after I wipe off my spit from her shoulder._

_After Carlisle leaves, I go over to sit behind her. More like straddle her legs. I hear her whimper very softly but I don't think she wanted me to hear. I wrap my arms around her waist. I think she stopped breathing._

_I then think to sing the last part from her song. She relaxes after that._

_There is a knock that uproots us from our position. Carlisle tells us we have to go to school._

_Alice has a wicked smile on as Carlisle leaves. I'm more scared of her now than I was when she "attacked" me. _

_She tells me that some vampires have special powers and hers is to see the future. She convinces me to wear an outfit from her closet. I try to argue but end up losing. I can't argue for long with her. _

_I ask her to leave and she gets all seductive next to my ear saying "Aw ruin all my fun." I think she is actually trying to kill me. Well I'm debating with myself for quite a while. _

_I finally just give in and start to change. I get a "bad feeling" and then shortly after my eyes roll back into my head. I think I reached out to try and stop my fall but this only caused clothes to fall down on top of me. _

_I reach back around my head to find my hand bloody again. I hear something that vaguely sounds like Alice telling me to open the door. I try to and then I see a foot next to my head and then an arm snakes its way in. I grab it and hear some scolding that I couldn't clearly distinguish._

_The door opens so I can see my angel. Somehow I manage to get through the conversation. _

_I am lost to darkness as Carlisle appears._

_I awaken and get to cuddle with Alice. I also find out that we don't have to go to school._

_Instead she gives me the rundown on vampires and then I try to explain my "bad feelings" better to her. She says I need breakfast and the previous one got cold._

_I give her a hug for telling me and after a while she jokes if I'm ever going to let her go. Damn I have been holding on too long, haven't I?_

_I try to let go but then she grabs onto me. I continue to try and get away. _

_She kisses me on the cheek. She kissed me … on the cheek. What?! While I'm shocked she lets go and I'm sent backwards onto my ass. She laughs as I continue to sit dumbfounded. I hope she doesn't realize why I am._

_Alice calls me asking "aren't you hungry?" I smile and follow her as she leaves the room. I'd follow her anywhere._

I have to get back to Alice.She needs me or at least I need her.

My eyes shoot open. James is still bolting through the forest. I close my eyes so I don't get dizzy while trying to think of a plan to get away from a killer vampire whose goal is to torture Alice by using me. That isn't going to happen. At least not without me putting up a fight.

The only chance I have is to …

"Ow, Jesus Christ that hurt," I yell out in pain after I attempt to elbow him to the face. Yeah I probably just broke my arm or elbow. Can you even break your elbow? If you can't I'd sure be the one to do it anyway.

Fortunately it caught James off guard enough that he stops. In doing this so abruptly, he sent me flying forward and then tumbling pretty hard against the ground.

It is almost funny seeing the look on his face. He is obviously shocked but clearly offended as well. It looks like he is thinking "Did she really just try that?"

I am too busy trying to stop my tumbling on the ground. I hit quite a few rocks, which will cause lovely bruises later, before I finally stopped. I let my head fall down against the ground, taking in deep breaths so I can understand what just happened.

Before I can get up though, James is standing menacingly over top of me.

"You really think you could get away? With you hitting me in the face?" he asks, with a still shocked tone.

He stepped forward and down onto my leg.

"AHHHH! Man fuck! Like I need any more broken bones. Charlie is going to kill me," I yell out in his direction. I should probably pick better times to joke. But he actually broke my leg. That bastard broke my leg. He looks at me shocked yet again.

"Why the hell should you care? You won't even make it back to Charlie alive," he seethes through his teeth, as he leans down over me.

He uses one of his hands and grabs both of mine, forcing them into my stomach. I grunt low and scowl at him. Am I trying to get myself killed? But I need Alice and I need to try and get away. Although it is looking pretty hopeless now.

He uses the other to tilt my face away, giving him better access. A second later the end of my world starts . . .

"Goodbye, Alice. I'm sorry," I whisper into the air before my body starts convulsing.

I refuse to use my last few minutes of life thinking of the pain. The extremely excruciating pain. Instead I think of one of the best days of my life. With Alice, of course.

_I wake up with Alice next to me after I convinced her to lie in bed with me again._

_After she gets me a more suitable outfit, since I am apparently dressed to go see a monster truck rally, we go down the road towards Port Angeles. _

_She proposes on seeing a vampire movie and I agree. I'll spend whatever time I can with her. _

_Once the mind-numbing, 9 hour shopping extravaganza is at a close we put the clothes into her car. I really wish she hadn't bought so much stuff but no matter how I argue, she will always win._

_At dinner, which is expensive as well of course, we talk of many things. Our separate lives, the other Cullens, and even about me being changed into a vampire. I got excited but she didn't seem too thrilled with the idea._

_I can understand some of the bad things she pointed out but if I could spend eternity with Alice then I could care less about those points._

_It turns out that Alice has another surprise after we buy the movie tickets. We still have about one hour until the movie. I wouldn't have minded going in early. No. Shouldn't think that. She isn't like that. _

_I climb onto her back as she looks around making sure that no one is watching._

_She tells me that I should close my eyes and I comply, showing her that I trust her opinion._

_I am surprised when I open my eyes. Alice is sparkling. The sun's rays cause her skin to sparkle like thousands of tiny diamonds. However this is only part of the reason she brought me up here._

_She wonders about my scar again. I can't really blame her. She told me her biggest secret. That should merit the same in return, right? I wish I could._

_I end up crying on her lap for almost an hour. I feel so pathetic. She feels so good._

_We go to the movie and arrive about halfway through the previews. In the movie I grab onto Alice after gunshots. I'm not really scared but like I said I would take what I could get even if I looked pathetic during the process._

_As we walk outside, I tense up. It brings back some pretty awful memories in a very similar situation. I know I shouldn't be scared with Alice there but it's kind of reflexive now._

_As it turns out, my assumptions are correct. There is a guy in the shadows. I tense up again, but Alice appeared as if she knew the guy was there. Why didn't she get us out of here then?_

_The bastard is going to touch Alice but she can be pretty intimidating considering that she is a vampire. So instead he pulls a knife in my direction. _

_Next thing I know he is up against the brick wall that is a good 10 feet away. I'm just stunned in my place until Alice talks. _

_She seems offended at the lesbo comment. I snap out of my confusion and walk over to Alice, trying to calm her down. She complies eventually. I don't think she realized how riled up she got. She finishes her threat and turns around on her heel, walking off. _

_She grumbles a few more insults and I try to calm her. She ends up getting more confused._

_She is thinking deeply about something. _

_I am thinking as well. After a few moments I tell her that I'm a lesbian and delve into the story behind my scar. She's understanding and says that I don't have to tell her but I think telling her will be the only way to show her that I trust her._

_When my story is done Alice pulls off the road. She barely says my name before I engulf her in a hug. After a while I tell her that I should get home. We take my things inside once we arrive._

_At my door I ask if she's coming to my room and she jokes about how Thursday was the last night I'll spend alone. I smile as I close the door._

APOV:

I continue to run as Emmett and Edward are left farther and farther behind me, distracting Victoria. Carlisle and Jasper are at my sides but still slightly behind me. Rosalie and Esme were sent back to Bella's house to watch over Charlie in case one of them escapes.

If he hurts her . . . or worse. I shake my head in attempt to rid the thoughts. I increase my speed or at least I try to. I smell him not too far off. Oh shit that's not the only smell. My eyes roll back in my head as I come to a halt after the scent of Bella's blood hits my nostrils.

I grit my teeth as I hear a thump behind me.

I shakily turn around to see Carlisle pinning Jasper to the ground. Jasper continues to lash out in attempt to get away.

"Alice, go. I have to keep Jasper here. I'll try and get him away. Go save Bella. We can't help anymore," he yells snapping me out of my daze.

I cringe. I have no help.

"Goodbye, Alice," I hear barely whispered from the lips of my love.

"NO," I yell as I bolt off.

I see a filthy blond haired monster crouch over what I can only assume is Bella. He is too caught up in his frenzy for her blood to notice me attack him from behind.

We tumble one over the other for a good thirty feet before I end up on top pinning his arms above his head while I shove my knee into his stomach. Bella's blood still drips down the sides of his lips.

After he regains himself, he uses his legs to kick me off him and into the nearest tree with enough force that the tree groans under it. As I pull myself out of the tree, it falls over. I cock my head over to him and he's flying towards me.

Each of us circles slowly around the area, in a standoff. I try to calm myself enough so I can see what he's planning. I eventually succeed a few seconds later.

I catch him off guard enough to jump onto his torso. I reach up and grab both sides of his face. With all the force I can muster I jerk my arms so that his neck turns with a sickening crunch. He falls to his knees and crumbles to the floor.

Emmett and Edward appear and gather wood into a pile. They set it ablaze and come over, grabbing James from me.

I flash over to Bella and crouch down beside her. Her back is arched off the ground in pain.

"Bella. Bella," I whisper trying to get her attention. I cup her cheek and hold her shoulder down so she doesn't harm herself.

She stops seizing immediately and her eyes still remain unfocused.

"Alice, it burns," she groans softly, while shutting her eyes painfully.

"I know Bella. I'm sorry. I can't stop it now though. I'm so sorry. I wish I had gotten here sooner," I whimper, looking down at her softly.

She grabs each side of my face and forces her lips against mine. My eyes widen in utter shock. _What is she doing? Wow I guess you were right._

I ignore my voice, placing my hand that was previously on her cheek on her waist. I close my eyes and move my lips against hers. She's so deliciously warm. Actually no she's not warm, she's blazing hot. It feels like I had achieved my suicide attempt, at least where she is touching me.

She reaches farther behind my neck and is trying to pull me closer. Her scent distracts me slightly from wanting to continue. I stiffen for a moment and then she breaks contact, breathing heavily.

She sets her head back on the ground. The pain replaces the smile that was just on her features.

"I love you, Alice," she mumbles before she cringes against the fire coursing through her veins.

"I love you, my Bella," I reply, scooping her off the ground and heading back to the house.

**__________________________________________________________________________________**

**A/N: How kick ass was that? If it wasn't just tell me. I tried. Reviews as always are appreciated.**


	11. Chapter 11: Too Many Problems

**A/N: I do not own Twilight or its characters and I think everyone knows who does. Also thanks for the reviews. They are really encouraging. Enjoy!**

Chapter 11 - Too Many Problems:

APOV:

I didn't really think it was possible to be thinking of so many things at once that my brain would therefore threaten to burst through my skull. My brain can't even seem to focus long enough on one thought to solve the problem. It jumps to another thought on a completely different problem. No I can't even stay on the same problem.

I jerk my head down at the writhing figure continuing to struggle against an unbeatable foe. I throw an understanding glance at the beautiful face twisted in pain.

This angel has saved me from my mind long enough for me to focus on the current problem which I was unaware that I am somewhat solving.

My legs continue to blur beneath me as I carry her to my home and away from the other threat, Victoria.

_The family is taking care of her so you can calm down._

The voice soothes this time. It only calms me slightly. I inhale so forcefully that I almost forget that it is unnecessary.

Bella writhes in my arms again as I shift her to open the front door. Did I do that? Goddess I'm causing her pain. _She's extremely sensitive, it can't be helped._ Why are you always saying the opposite of what I am thinking? _You're the one arguing with yourself. Don't blame me._

I growl as I accept what my voice says as true.

I don't have time for this. I need to try and make Bella as comfortable as possible.

I flash up stairs and look away from her as I open the door to my room, still feeling her flinch as I shift her again.

I set her down on the bed unwillingly. It will be better for her although all I want to do is hold her close to me. I take a step back from the bed.

Her face twists up more as if she is having a seizure. Duh. I smile as I remember that she, for whatever reason, feels more at ease when I hold her.

I close the door and then climb onto the bed next to her. As soon as I settle in place, Bella shoots her arms around my waist, holding onto dear life. I smile yet grimace at the same time after I remind myself of the pain I remember from my transformation.

"It'll be over soon enough my Bella. I'm sorry I couldn't have spared you this pain," I whisper as I lean down and kiss her furrowed brow. I start tracing, what I can only hope is, soothing patterns along her back and arms.

As Bella lies groaning in my arms I now have time to think of the previous questions I was bombarded with earlier.

Well there's the first problem of Charlie. What are we going to do about him?

All newborns can't be around humans for at least the first year. We could say that she was kidnapped and that could give him hope that one day she will return. Or we could just give him her body and they could pronounce her as dead.

I guess that is more of Bella's choice to make. Yes. We can't just tell her to give up her family. We can only give her options.

It seems that problem can't be answered quite yet. It'll have to wait until she wakes.

Next problem is we will most likely have to move shortly after her transformation. Not only will people become suspicious but unknown to Bella is our pact with the Quileute tribe from the reservation. This is clearly against the treaty and they will find out very soon that a transformation has occurred.

There was really no need to tell her unless she became a vampire. She never really had the chance to ask. I hope being in her newborn state that she'll still be civilized enough to let to me explain.

After all those things considered there is still the one huge problem, for me at least, that I am continuing to avoid. Bella kissed me. What am I to do with that?

Of course I still want and love her with all that I am but she thought she was going to die. Maybe she wanted to "go out with a bang".

_Maybe she wanted you to know since you were there and she did think she would die._

What the hell are you talking about? You were arguing the same point that I am currently making. Now you decide that she does like me and I should talk to her about it. You do just like to argue.

_It's not fun if you're conscience agrees. The conscience is supposed to tease and argue the opposite of what you are currently thinking. Besides … you made an excellent point earlier in that she obviously knew it was you._

Now I have time to argue with you. Ok but what if she really did just want to go out with a bang?

_Come on there is no way you are over 100 years old. She has sent you every sign in the book that she's into you since the moment we met her._

Like what?

_Ok well let's just start from the beginning. 1. She offered you her coat when you were "cold". 2. She had you two walk on the beach. Seriously, Come on!_

Wait, those are moves?

_I thought I was in the head of someone smarter than Rose. Continuing… 3. She wrote a song for you. Hello! That is one of the sexiest and most romantic things ever since instruments were invented. It is probably the reason instruments were invented. 4. After you told her you were a vampire, that embrace was more intimate than any "friendship" hug or whatever. Must I go on?_

… why did you try to deny all those things when they happened? I ask extremely sad that I hadn't done something earlier.

_Look I'm your opposite. I don't know how many times I have to say it. I don't mean to. It's what we do. Especially after Jasper. How can we trust anyone else?_

As this statement is muttered by anti-Alice, or whatever I'm calling it, Bella is going into a particularly violent episode. Her back arches, almost dangerously, and I lean my cheek against hers, whispering condolences and apologies into her ear.

She groans much louder than she has been. I pull back my cheek from hers to find my cheek stained with her tears. I wipe what remains of her tears from her face and then from my own.

Would she really hurt us though? I ask returning to the conversation with anti-Alice.

_We didn't think he would hurt us until he did. She could do the same but we might not recover after her. _

Why do you say that?

_You know why. But since you seem extremely Rose-ish today I'll bite. We know there is something different about her. She is special and when we met her there was something completely and utterly unique about her. Nothing that Jasper ever made us feel. She makes us feel secure, safe, and as if we can pick up the pieces he shattered._

… Yeah. She is really special huh? But are you saying that we should do this now?

_No. I never agree with you remember? I think she has the potential to give us utter bliss but she also has the potential to shatter us beyond repair. We thought we loved Jasper and that he was our soul mate but that was only because we were not open to the possibilities of the other half of the population._

Does it really matter that she is a girl? I don't know. It doesn't seem like it should.

_Should and does are two completely different words. Just because something should be a certain way doesn't mean the world will let it._

Were we opposed to girls before?

_I just don't think we ever thought of it as plausible especially after that vision of Jasper. _

So you're also saying that I have trouble trusting Bella. Or anyone for that matter.

_How can we not after what has happened to us? First that awful asylum and then the one we thought we could trust just goes and betrays us._

It really wasn't Jasper's fault. He couldn't help falling in love.

_Are you only saying this because now you know how he feels now? _

Maybe… I'm not sure. It's possible. Bella makes me feel things that I never thought I could again and on such a greater level. Maybe Bella does have the ability to break us beyond repair but what is worse? Never giving it a shot or pretending to move on having it slowly eat away at us?

… _that is indeed the real question._

So I guess you aren't going to help me out on this one then.

_Sorry that's not what I'm here for. _

I sigh in defeat as I snuggle closer to Bella. She moans softly, tightening her grip while forcing her face deeper into the crook of my neck.

I haven't really been paying attention to the amount of time that has passed. I figure that I can't speed up the process and it is different for everyone.

I look over at the clock, which conveniently enough has the date as well. It's been over a day and a half. It should be coming to a close soon enough.

I lay back against the pillow, continuing to draw abstract patterns along Bella's skin and thinking along with myself.

BPOV:

Searing, blazing, indescribable pain.

Hell must exist or at least its equivalent. I don't particularly care what it is called. All I know is that I have entered it.

It feels like my skin is slowly, ever so slowly, being pulled back off and separated from my muscles while receiving no anesthetics to numb it. I know it's not a very pleasant way to think about it but that is the best way I can describe it.

The problem is that in some way I think I am still alive because every once in a while I feel the cool feeling that could only be Alice's skin making contact with mine. It's the only thing that is making this slightly bearable.

I've been in this state for an eternity. Let's say going with my previous example that it started at my feet. Well it's only about mid-thigh now. I have a feeling that there is a time limit but it's not precise and, for the most part, my perception of time has lost validity.

I just have to pull through so that maybe, just maybe, I can see Alice again.

APOV:

Bella convulses once again after just having done so less than ten minutes ago. They are becoming more frequent and appear to be causing her increasingly grotesque pain.

Carlisle emerges through the doorway after this one. Bella let out an ear piercing cry causing the others to appear soon after.

I try to slip from her hold but she refuses to relinquish it. I smirk slightly before I remember the others.

"Bella," I whisper.

"Alice?" she groans in response. Her voice is already changing beautifully. This isn't helping the fact that I'm in love with her.

"Bella, how are yo-," I start, getting cut off by another scream erupting from her lungs. I cringe slightly as well as tighten my hold on her just barely.

"Ssh, it's okay Bella It'll be over shortly," I whisper, while kissing her hair.

"Hmm," she sighs contently. I giggle softly as she snuggles further into my body.

I listen closely. Her heart is beating slower and slower, until … it stops.

BPOV:

Something is wrong with me. Desperately wrong.

I feel as if my mind has slipped back into the early Cretaceous era and the only thing that matters is me surviving. And right now the thing that I need isn't nearby.

Blood.

My throat burns like fire. I jump up in a flash from the soft furniture I was against. My eyes dart around taking in my surroundings. Everything is crystal clear.

I don't even remember how I'm supposed to act, only that it's not like this. Only thinking of blood and how to get it so I can quench this roaring fire.

"Bella?" I hear to the side and quickly jerk my head in the direction.

Is that my name? I don't remember anything before the fire. It seemed endless. Burning for all eternity with me consumed within it.

Who is this? She doesn't even have a heartbeat. I can't get blood from her.

I growl, deep and guttural, in response. How did she get here? How did I get here? Where can I find blood?

"Bella, please. It's ok, it's me, Alice. Remember?" the girl responds. I raise an eyebrow. I close my eyes and inhale deeply.

Alice.

Something about her scent is so comforting and familiar. Maybe once I get some blood I can return to see her. However when I inhale I notice a mixture of six other scents that I wasn't paying attention to before.

I jerk around and snarl fiercely at the intruders. They are going to hurt me. It's an ambush. How could I let this happen?

I crouch lower ready to attack at the slightest change. As I focus on them, I hear the girl, Alice, is inching closer behind me.

The others slowly back out but still remain in range if they feel she needs assistance. She is very dear to them. They don't have blood either. I need to find some.

After all but the man with slicked back blond hair and Alice leave, I turn slowly back around to face her. She is only about two feet away but I feel I can trust her though.

"Bella, are you thirsty?" she asks warily. What? How did she know? I raise an eyebrow at her again. I nod simply.

"I can help you. So can he. His name is Carlisle. We just want to help you through this," she explains cautiously.

A jolt shoots up my spine, incapacitating me. My body falls in a crumpled mess onto the floor, from the pure shock of it. What the hell is happening? Are they doing this? They didn't even move.

I can't move. My eyes cloud over and my mind draws me into a fantasy world completely different from where I was.

"_Goodbye, Alice. I'm sorry," I whisper into the air before my body starts convulsing._

_I refuse to use my last few minutes of life thinking of the pain. The extremely excruciating pain. Instead I think of one of the best days of my life. With Alice, of course._

_The weight lifts off me but I remain stuck on the ground by a force stronger than my own. I twist and turn in positions trying to deal with the pain for several minutes before I hear someone._

"_Bella. Bella," she whispers trying to get my attention. She cups my cheek and holds my shoulder down so I don't harm myself. _

_I stop seizing immediately and my eyes remain unfocused._

"_Alice, it burns," I groan softly, while shutting my eyes painfully._

"_I know Bella. I'm sorry. I can't stop it now though. I'm so sorry. I wish I had gotten here sooner," she whimpers._

_I grab each side of her face and force my lips against hers. After a short while she places her hand that was previously on my cheek on my waist. She starts to move her lips against mine. She's so deliciously warm. Actually no she's not warm, she's blazing hot. So weird considering that she's really so cold._

_I reach farther behind her neck and try to pull her closer. She stiffens for a moment and then I break contact, breathing heavily. _

_I set my head back on the ground. The pain replaces the smile. _

"_I love you, Alice," I mumble before cringing against the fire coursing through my veins._

"What the hell?!" I yell leaping backwards backs onto my feet.

Blood. I still need blood. The burn nags tenfold at the back of my throat. I feel a slippery bitter liquid germinating in my mouth. It starts dripping down the right side of my chin through my lips.

"Bella, what happened?" Alice asks, concerned.

I grab onto my throat with both hands, closing my eyes tightly. It burns so much.

Something that is somewhat cool encloses around my hands and removes them from my aching throat.

I slowly open my eyes. Alice is right in front of me with a sympathetic look. No wonder I love this girl. She's so beautiful, inside and out. God but she doesn't have what I need right now.

The burning in my throat hurts so much that my knees buckle beneath me. However before I fall Alice is at my side holding me up by my waist.

"Come on, let's get you some blood," she says quietly.

I give her a pained expression and she guides me to the window.

Once we are on the ground and somewhat in the woods I hear someone approach from behind. I growl lowly.

"It's ok Bella. It's only Carlisle. We don't want you attacking any humans," she explains.

I relax slightly. Then I smell it. The bitter liquid builds in my mouth again as I bolt off.

"Bella, no!" I hear faintly before something tackles me to the ground.

Blood. It's right there. Less than twenty feet away. I snarl against my detainer. Another form lowers itself in front of me. It grabs both sides of my face. I can't make it out quite yet. The blood. I need it. I have to get to it. I struggle for half an hour before the scent is too far off.

I begin to refocus and I see that the assailant who has been holding my face is Alice.

I take a few breaths and close my eyes. I start shivering from either the shame I feel from what could've happened or from my ever growing desperation for blood. I'm not entirely sure which.

The light weight lifts off my body, and I feel Alice shift slightly to hold me. This feels nice.

The fire ignites once again after not being quenched when it was so close.

"Damn it," I yell, regretfully pushing myself off Alice. She gives me a questioning look before I turn away and look deep into the forest.

I smell something. It's blood. Even if it's not as mouth watering as the one before.

I don't care. I need any kind.

I bolt off once again. The beating grows in my eyes. Silently I ambush the large buck from behind and snap its neck out of instinct. I drink deeply from the carotid artery, in the neck.

I close my eyes for my next target. I repeat the process four more times before coherent thought comes back to me. I slump against a tree and breathe deeply in shock. I remember from my life that I hated seeing dead animals. I start to shiver again.

Is this what I must do now? Be the cause of something I used to hate seeing.

Her scent fills my nostrils again. I look up and see her understanding eyes. I see Carlisle beside her. He gives a nod after looking at me and then leaves.

"Bella do you feel better?" Alice asks sliding her back against the trunk until she is sitting next to me.

I think for a moment, both about her question and back to that remembrance of my biting. Now I have to deal with her hating me for kissing her.

I shake my head at her question. I feel awful about the animals I have slain. I might as well be honest.

"Well it never goes away, but you eventually will accept it. Just so you know, you killed them the most humane way," she says softly. I'm glad she understood and I didn't have to explain.

"You'll be with me to stop me, right?" I ask shakily, looking at her pleadingly.

She nods almost instantly. I bring my legs close to my chest and I wrap my arms around them. I lay my head on my knees and sigh deeply.

Alice wraps an arm around my shoulders and the other around my knees, giving me a makeshift hug.

I lean into her. I really hope she doesn't hate me.

My head shoots up and my back connects with the tree. My eyes cloud over. I fall away from Alice to the ground and faintly hear a groan from Alice before my vision is consumed by something else.

"_What the hell, Bella?" Charlie yells in my face as I come through the door._

"_Charlie, I'm sorry but I got hung up," I answer in my new voice._

"_What, were you off fucking guys for the past four days?" he seethes accusingly. If I look hard enough I think steam is coming from his ears._

"_Well that seems very unlikely Charlie," I scoff. I'm surprised he hasn't noticed the changes in me. Even with the contacts._

"_Oh yeah, why is that?" he challenges._

"_Because if I was off fucking anyone it would be a chick," I admit._

"_Get out of my house you fucking dyke. This is your mother's fault," he continues furious._

"_You leave mom out of this. No wonder she left you. No wonder I love women. You're never around. And when you are you're an ass. This isn't mom's fault, it's yours," I raise my voice slightly. He has no right to blame mom._

"_Get out!" he yells, back handing me across my now rock hard face._

"_Fuck!" he moans, cradling his hand. He probably broke all of his fingers. Serves him right, dumbass._

_I just shake my head, turn around, and walk out the door._

"_That went well," I reply sarcastically to Alice._

My vision comes back, but only long enough to be taken away again.

_I hear Charlie's sobs and feel his tears as they hit my body._

"_Bella, I'm so sorry. You just reminded me so much of your mother and I couldn't stay around you because of that. Why'd you run off? Why –," he rambles on sadly to himself._

_I continue to lay motionless with the smell of bleach consuming my nostrils. Thank the stars. Otherwise this would turn into a massacre._

My vision returns, to see Alice above me.

"Bella?" she asks, stroking my cheek.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I didn't mean to make you worry," I answer.

"That's alright, Bella. What happened? You keep randomly going into seizures or something," she answers confused.

"I think it's my bad feelings. But it's weird. I don't see any signs and this time I got two visions. They seemed like outcomes. I'm just confused," I reply.

"I guess it could be developing more now that you're a vampire," she suggests.

"I suppose," I mumble. I wonder if she will ever bring up the kiss. I'm not going to if she doesn't.

Just at that thought, a shiver crawls up my spine. She giggles softly.

"What?" I question, finally pushing off the ground into a sitting position.

"You're the only vampire I know of to shiver and yet you never shivered when I touched you as a human. Just ironic I suppose," she answers still giggling.

"Well your touch never felt cold. Well it technically did but it was overridden by an oddly warm sensation. That probably doesn't make sense but oh well," I try to explain earning more giggles from her.

"You really are quite odd, Bella. Even as a vampire," she answers.

"Especially as a vampire," I jest, laughing.

"At least you're over that horrible Transylvanian accent," she adds.

"Oh yeah," I turn to eye her playfully.

"Please don't. I can't take the accent," she mocks horror.

"You're no fun," I pout. She smirks.

"Come on. We have a few things to discuss and I think we need to do it in front of the whole family," she says after our laughter dies down.

I raise an eyebrow at her suggestively at the double meaning.

"Bella!" she scolds. I giggle.

She gets up and puts out a hand for me. I happily accept it and she pulls me up.

"You ready?" she asks, smirking.

"You just try and keep up," I answer, smirking in return.

At the last second she turns and kisses me on the cheek. She bolts off leaving me dazed behind.

"Come on slow poke. I thought you'd at least give me a challenge," she laughs in the distance.

I frown and bolt off to catch up. I'm gaining and finally catch up.

"You cheater," I mumble playfully.

"All's fair in love and war," she goes all fortune cookie on me. I raise an eyebrow. She smirks.

The rest of the way back is spent in comfortable silence. My thoughts roam to the reason behind that shiver at the thought of kissing Alice. Was it good or bad? Or is it something else? It seemed too conveniently placed.

I push the thoughts back as we reach the Cullen house.

**A/N: Well there you have it. I know it took forever but Bella is finally a vampire. I know I'm evil in that I'm completely ignoring the kiss. But that makes it more fun. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Reviews are appreciated.**


	12. Chapter 12: Taking Care of Business

**A/N: I don't own Twilight. Obviously cause I would've done a few things differently. Enjoy!**

Chapter 12: Taking Care of Business –

APOV:

I turn the knob and push it open. Bella tenses up next to me. I grab her hand and lace my fingers through hers. She relaxes slightly.

_Did she even remember the kiss? Why hasn't she brought it up?_

My thoughts return to the group as Edward gives a cough along with an apologetic smile. I roll my eyes and then smile.

"So everyone … I think we all know why we're here," I start, kind of joking. Everyone lets a smile form on their lips.

"Well we have a few things to discuss and now that everyone is … here, why don't we get it over with?" I ask. Everyone nods slightly.

"So Bella's not going to kill us anymore, right?" Emmett jokes.

Bella tilts her head down to the floor. I glare at him and Esme slaps him upside the head.

"Ow! What?" he booms.

"Be nice," Esme warns. I smirk.

I pull Bella over to the empty loveseat by the fireplace. I wonder if they did this on purpose.

"I'm fine. I didn't remember who you were when I woke up. And the constant thoughts of blood didn't help," Bella mumbles.

"It's alright, Bella. It was to be expected with a newborn. I'm just glad you had enough restraint not to attack without thinking," Carlisle replies kindly.

"You're lucky you guys didn't have blood or I wouldn't have given it a second thought," she continues ashamed.

"We would've stopped you. You don't have to blame yourself," Jasper speaks.

Bella looks over to him and smiles softly. Jasper returns it and slips an arm around Edward, who leans into him.

"So what are we going to do about Charlie?" Edward asks.

I look to Bella. I never heard much of her relationship with Charlie. She would always change the subject when I tried to bring him up.

"You've been "missing" for four days and he called while you were changing, Bella," Carlisle explains. She nods thinking.

"You have a few options. There is pretending that you're missing until you can be around humans; pretending you're dead long enough for a funeral; or you just go back and think of something to tell him except if you choose two or three you would have to take a few precautions if you were to get that close to him," I explain.

Everyone looks at Bella, waiting. She has a strange look on her face.

I wrap an arm around her shoulders and scoot closer to her.

"I think the second option would be best," she mumbles. I didn't think the relationship was that bad.

I look around to see everyone with confused looks on their faces.

"Charlie wouldn't take me coming back now or even a year from now very well. I know he loves me in some weird way but I remind him too much of Renee so we've never been very close," Bella explains.

"That bastard," Edward exclaims, jumping out of Jasper's arms, seething.

Everyone turns to him expecting. Bella has a look of horror on her features.

"What is it, Edward?" Jasper gets up rubbing Edward's back.

Edward's face twists up in disgust but he says nothing. Still containing his fury, he and Jasper sit back down. Edward must be able to read Bella's thoughts now. Why didn't he say so?

"Bella?" I question softly.

She shakes her head fiercely containing her sobs.

"I can't. I just … need to be dead for him and Renee. It would just be better," she mumbles, still shaking her head, with her face securely tucked into my neck. I rub her back gently.

I look around and the others look between us and Edward.

"Ssh it's ok. We'll talk about something else. So that brings up the next point. After the funeral we'll have to move. We've broken the treaty and the wolves will be at our door shortly," I start out softly to her then turn my attention to everyone.

Bella looks up confused. I give her a smile before turning to the others.

"This is true," Carlisle states simply.

"Or we could kick their asses and be done with this dumb treaty," Emmett suggests.

Everyone glares at him, except Bella, who is still confused.

"What treaty? What wolves?" Bella voices her confusion.

"You didn't tell her, Alice?" Rose speaks for the first time, in genuine curiosity.

"No. It never came up," I answer. I'm glad Rose isn't upset with Bella.

"Well about 50 years ago we were here in Forks before. We were hunting on the land of the Quileute tribe, who are werewolves. Carlisle set up a peaceful agreement that said we would never go on their land again or … change a human," Jasper explains.

"But you all didn't change me. James did," Bella points out.

"No matter who changed you they will blame us. We don't even have the evidence of their bodies anymore since we had to burn them. And their scents will be cold by now," Edward answers her question.

I give him a smile which he returns. Bella nods in understanding.

"Well it would probably be better anyways so no one would see Bella after she's pronounced dead," Carlisle supports.

"So where to this time?" Rose replies, exasperatedly.

"Please not Alaska again," Emmett moans.

Everyone laughs softly.

"Let's reconvene later on," Carlisle responds with a smile, turning around.

The other family members go off to separate areas of the house.

"Alice…," Bella starts.

"Yes, Bella," I answer returning my focus to her, eyebrow slightly lifted.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" she whispers quietly.

"Sure," I answer and she gets up, turning around to help me up after.

I look over at Jasper and smile. Then we leave through the front door and off into the forest. I know where we can go. I grab Bella's hand and lace our fingers together. She looks over to me, slightly confused.

"Follow me," I say with a smile.

I take her to the cliff where we met.

I sit down, with my legs hanging over the side of the cliff, motioning for Bella to sit next to me. She complies, joining me quickly.

I lean back onto my palms which are splayed out, weaving my fingers through the grass. Bella brings her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, setting her chin on her knees.

I look over, curious, but let her sit in silence for a few minutes.

"It's nice out here. I can see why you were out here thinking," she sighs.

"Mhm. It is the perfect place to think. Do you want me to leave you to your thoughts?" I end with a question, closing my eyes so I can concentrate on the feel of the wind.

"No! … I mean, I would prefer that you didn't," she bursts out then continues in a mumble, obviously embarrassed by her outburst.

"Mk," I answer, laughing softly and smiling with my eyes still closed.

"Alice, do you think it's wrong of me to kill myself off for Charlie?" she asks, softly.

I open my eyes and turn slightly to face her, leaning on one arm now with the other draped across my lap.

"Bella, you obviously have a reason behind it so I trust you don't make the decision lightly. Besides you don't need my opinion. If you think it's best then that's what matters," I answer, thoughtfully.

"Alice, your opinion is very important to me. And … he used to beat me," she mumbles. My eyes narrow.

"He what?" I seethe.

"Alice … I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I'm trying to forget it," her voice breaks a couple times. She removes her arms from around her knees and slips her legs over the edge. She places her hands in her lap and fidgets with the ends of her fingers. I slip the arm previously propping myself up around her shoulders and gently pull her closer.

"You pick the weirdest times to apologize, you know," I joke, kissing her hair. She giggles softly.

"Alice …" she starts, _Oh shit. You did it now. I told you._ Shut up! You're not helping.

"Yes, Bella," I reply, shakily.

"Please don't hate me for the kiss. I thought I was going to die honest. I never would've done it if I knew I -," she rambles before I press my lips softly but forcefully against hers, effectively shutting her up.

She slips her fingers into my hair while I place the hand previously draped across my lap on her waist and put the arm around her shoulders back on the ground. Her lips move softly against mine. For some weird reason her lips still feel warm underneath mine.

Before it could progress any farther, Bella starts to shiver then jolts away from me. She slumps against me shortly after, going into another seizure. I pull her away from the edge to wait for her to come out of it with a smile on my lips.

Well now what do you have to say?

_Shut up, no one likes a smartass,_ Anti Alice replies, sulking.

I smirk and wrap my arms around Bella as she comes out of her state.

Bella springs up out of my grasp. To this, I raise an eyebrow.

"No, fuck no. This can't be happening. No I just found it again. Why the hell not?!" she rambles yelling at herself.

"What happened?" I ask worried, getting up.

"I'm so sorry, Alice. I can't do this. I have to go," she says slightly sobbing before bolting off without another word.

She leaves me, standing there, dazed.

My knees collapse from under me which eventually leads to my body lying in a crumpled heap against the ground.

What just happened?

_Alice?_

"Just go away. I don't want to talk to you," I mumble aloud, closing my eyes while I try not to sob.

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**A/N: So yeah I hope you are all still reading. And yeah I just messed up Alice and Bella again. But there's a point I promise. **

**Reviews always appreciated. Until next time.**


	13. Chapter 13: I Don't Care, I Need You

**A/N: I do not own Twilight. Enjoy!**

Chapter 13: I Don't Care, I Need You-

BPOV:

"Please don't hate me for the kiss. I thought I was going to die honest. I never would've done it if I knew I -," I ramble before Alice presses her lips softly but forcefully against mine, effectively shutting me up.

I slip my fingers into her hair while she moves the hand previously draped across her lap to my waist. That feels incredible. She places the arm that was around my shoulders back on the ground. Her lips move softly against mine. For some weird reason her lips feel warm underneath mine.

Before it could progress any farther, I start to shiver. No, not now. I'm busy. My body ignores my pleas and forces me away from her. I slump against her shortly after, going into another seizure.

My eyes cloud over.

_A girl arrives in front of me. She has a stern look on her face, but also kind of sympathetic._

"_You cannot see her Isabella. It will ruin everything before you have time to complete your duty. I will not let what all the other six of us have done go in vain because you can't control yourself," the girl whispers forcefully._

"_But I want to see her," I say, fully aware that I'm whining._

"_Don't make me have Valerie wipe your mind of her. I really don't want you to forget her," she continues forcefully, but gets saddened at her last statement._

"_Ok," I whisper softly. _

_She steps closer and wraps her arms around me. I sob softly as I wrap my arms around her torso._

I spring out of Alice's grasp.

"No, fuck no. This can't be happening. No I just found it again. Why the hell not?!" I'm freaking out. Why does this have to happen?

"What happened?" she asks worried, getting up.

"I'm so sorry, Alice. I can't do this. I have to go," I say slightly sobbing before bolting off without another word. I can't believe I have to do this to her.

I continue to run without looking back. I wouldn't be able to handle the look on her face knowing that everything I promised in her song I have to break.

I don't want to forget Alice forever. But how could being with her possibly ruin me completing my duty? It's not like when I get a vision I'll just ignore it to have sex with Alice. Wait, sex? I'm not even going out with her yet. And I just fucked it up too.

"No," I say stopping where I'm at.

I have to go back and explain it to her. Who knows what this will do to her? She's still so fragile from Jasper. If I do this to her, who knows what will happen. No matter how much it hurts I have to do this for her.

Maybe I can somehow keep Renee from learning that I'm dead and I can go stay with her.

While I'm not around anyone, I should check. I lift up my shirt to examine my stomach. A pronounced white line rises slightly from my otherwise perfect skin. I run a finger over it to make sure I'm not just used to seeing it. It's there.

I pull back a sleeve. And there is the foot long scar where I left it on my forearm.

"Damn it," I curse softly before remembering what I just did.

I turn around and run back to where I just left Alice.

APOV:

_Alice, you can't do this yourself. I told you this might happen._

Go away. There's no need to be smug about this. It hurts you too that this happened.

_I know. I wasn't being smug. I was only reminding you._

Leave me alone.

I turn over to my side and idly run my fingers through the grass. How could this have happened? I was so sure that she liked me.

"Alice …" a small voice mumbles from behind me. I already know who it is. It's her. I'm surprised she came back. I keep my back towards her and continue to scratch lines in a dirt patch.

"Alice, please. Can I explain?" she continues. I feel her move closer and she lays a hand on my arm.

"Don't touch me," I seethe, jerking my arm away and moving to get off the ground.

"Alice …" she starts again.

"Why did you kiss me before you started changing? Did you just want to kiss someone before you "died"? Do I mean anything to you?" I yell cutting her off.

I'm breathing deeply to try and control my anger. It's not her fault she doesn't like me. I turn around to finally look at her. She would be crying if she could. No doubt about it.

"I'm sorry Bella. It's not your fault that you don't like me. I just thought, hoped, you did," I answer softly.

"Alice, you mean everything to me. And I do like you, so much that it hurts saying what I have to say next …," Bella replies confidently at first then drifts off.

"Please just tell me," I say looking straight at her.

"I can't be with you. But it's not because I don't want to. It's because I got a vision where someone was saying that I couldn't. I don't understand it. She said it would ruin all the plans. I'm sorry," she explains thoroughly.

I look at the ground, furrowing my brows in thought. I cock my head back up at her. I walk forward until my face is inches from hers. She looks at me with a look of confusion, fright, and sorrow.

"I don't care what anyone says," I say confidently, slipping my hand to the back of her neck and closing the distance, pulling her lips to mine in a soft, sweet kiss.

"But, Alice-," Bella starts. I silence her with another kiss.

"I'll just kick their ass if they try to stop me. I need you and I'm not giving you up without a fight," I answer, both jokingly and completely serious.

She smiles warmly before raising both her hands to place them on each of my hips. She leans in until her lips are brushing against mine as she talks.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that," she whispers, seductively. I shiver noticeably. This girl is going to kill me.

"Well I'm glad it pleases you," I smirk, after gaining some composure back. I slip my other arm around her neck and link my fingers together.

A smile graces her lips as she nods cutely.

"Can I kiss you again?" I ask with the goofy smile, I'm sure is, on my face.

"You didn't ask the first three times. Why are you bothering now?" she asks, but before I can think about it long enough to get offended, she closes the gap and presses her lips to mine. Utter bliss is once again mine.

I walk us backwards until her back presses firmly against a pine tree. I think. Why do I care?_ You don't._ Right. She runs her tongue along my bottom lip slowly. I stiffen in shock.

"Sorr-," she starts before I pull her back and force my tongue between her lips.

She moans deeply, vibrating against my lips. I growl softly in response.

She smiles before pulling back. She slips her fingers under my shirt very slowly, while lowering her head to my neck.

She sniffs lightly at first while her fingers draw patterns on my lower stomach. Her tongue slips out and she trails it from my collarbone up to my jaw, planting soft kisses on the same trail on the way down. I moan softly, against her neck, at the sensation.

"Bella, wait," I force out, though I want it so bad.

"Sorry, I-," she starts again but I cut her off again with a kiss.

"Is this going to become a habit?" she jokes, smirking.

"It is if you keep apologizing for things that you shouldn't. Besides you make it sound like it's a bad thing," I quip, smirking as well.

She pouts, moving back and crossing her arms cutely, like a two year old.

"Come on, don't be like that. I'll make it up to you," I reach out and grab her waist, gently pulling her back.

"Oh yeah, how's that?" she asks with raised eyebrows.

"Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?" I ask sweetly.

"Of course I would," she replies, smiling.

I wrap my arms around her a little tighter, pulling her closer. I lay my head against her chest since I can't reach any higher. Stupid shortness.

"I don't think we're quite at that stage yet. But you know I don't mind," Bella jokes, laughing.

"I can't reach. You jerk," I pull back to look at her, pouting.

"Now we're even, babe," she wraps her arms around my shoulders and pulls me into a tight hug.

"Did you get taller?" I joke, mumbling into her chest. She vibrates with laughter.

"I don't think it works that way," she answers, laughing softly.

I bury myself in her chest once more.

"Thank you," she replies.

"For what?" I ask, pulling back.

"For helping me … get over her. I haven't been able to until now. After the funeral you really are all I have and I wouldn't want it any other way," she explains, mumbling into my shoulder.

I turn slightly in her arms and snuggle deeper into her body.

"You're sweet but I'm not the only one helping the other get over a loss. At least Jasper is still alive, relatively speaking of course," I ask.

She nods curtly into my shoulder.

"Bella …" I start, not knowing how to continue.

"I used to do this with Valerie to hide my tears but I guess I don't have to worry about that huh," she attempts to joke to cover up the breaks in her voice. She finally removes her face from my shoulder and gives me a weak smile.

I nod softly and smile back while turning in our position to fully face her. I bring a hand up to her cheek, rubbing my thumb across it as if to wipe away the imaginary tears.

"Alice …" she whispers.

She suddenly throws her arms around my shoulders and buries her face in my neck. I would've fallen backwards if I hadn't braced myself at the last second. I catch her and slowly slip my arms along her waist to embrace her in return.

"Do you still remember?" I ask, knowing the answer is probably yes.

"Not only that but I was looking while I was away and the scars are still there. They will always be a constant reminder," she explains. That's odd_._ _It happens sometimes._

"I'm sorry, love. It happens sometimes," I ask, smirking a little at saying Anti-Alice's part.

_Hey I said that!_

But you can't talk. That's what you get for always contradicting me. And shut up, I'm trying to comfort her.

"Alice, there is something else," she says, pulling back from the hug.

"Yes, Bella," I reply, wanting to encourage her.

"I have one other scar that I didn't tell you about. But I didn't check to see if it's still there. It wasn't from the night with Valerie. It was from when I was dating her but she was sick that day. Besides it happened like the first week I was going out with her," she explains hesitantly.

"What happened, Bella?" I question with furrowed brows.

"Can you check and see if it's still there?" she asks changing the subject.

"Ok," I answer accepting that she'll tell me later.

She backs up and stands up. I follow her lead and push myself off the ground. She reaches for the hem of her shirt with shaky fingers. I put a hand over hers.

"You don't have to show me," I answer giving a soft smile.

"No I need to know if it's there. Can you help me? I'm just kind of embarrassed," she mumbles, lowering her head.

"Where is it?" I ask looking at her strangely.

"It's on the top of my back. … I'd have to take my shirt off," she continues, keeping her head low.

"How about I go around to your back then?" I suggest, tilting her head back up with my forefinger.

"Ok," she says so softly it's amazing that I heard it.

I smile before walking around to her back. I place my hands on her hips and lean in close to her ear.

"You know you're beautiful, love. With or without clothes," I add sweetly, hearing her laugh softly in return.

"Especially without clothes," she jokes. I giggle before placing a kiss on her neck.

"Agreed," I answer smiling against her skin.

I pull back and slip my fingers under her shirt. I bring it up with my hands along her skin. She raises her arms as her breath hitches and I continue until it's over her head. I look along her pale flawless back, clad only in a bra now, trying to resist any urges.

My eyes fall on a white circle being covered mostly by her hair. I step forward and gather it to the side so I can see. It's a perfect circle positioned almost directly in the middle of her back about 3 inches below the base of her neck, in between her shoulder blades. In the middle of the circle, which is what enflames my anger, is a clearly defined "L".

"You were branded!" I exclaim, stepping back and seething with rage.

She turns around and grabs her shirt from me, while I was in a stupor at what I just saw. She slips her shirt back on before she speaks.

"It's not a big deal. It happened a long time ago," she mumbles trying to get out of it.

"No, Bella, this is a huge deal. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Did you tell your mother? Did you tell Valerie? Charlie? Please tell me," I continue not wanting to let this go.

"Would it have helped if I told you earlier?" she asks quietly, turning to look at me straight on.

"I guess not. It's just that I care about you. I'm sorry," I answer knowing that she had me on that one.

"It's ok. I only told Valerie because she was the one who found me and helped me clean it," she continues quietly, rubbing her arm in a nervous gesture.

"Can you please tell me?" I ask again. She nods.

"Well Valerie was sick one day and I called and told her I'd come to her house after school with a surprise. It was a thermos full of homemade chicken noodle soup that I had made the night before," she starts with a smile on her face.

"So I went off to school and it went about like it normally did. I called Valerie at lunch. But the thing that should've tipped me off was that this guy, Mark, who had obviously been crushing on me for about a year before Valerie and I started going out, came over during lunch and asked if my girlfriend was here today. I told him that she was sick. He nodded and walked off. I didn't think anything of it," she continues looking neutral.

"After school I was on my way to Valerie's house and Mark caught up with me while I was walking. He was making small talk and I held it with him. I told him that I was going to her house and then he got very quiet. We were only about two blocks away when he grabbed my arms and forced me off the sidewalk into the woods. His friends were waiting, not looking very happy. Well Mark thought it would be funny to steal one of the branders that his uncle uses for his cows. Believe it or not, I was lucky that he didn't go through with his original plan which was to brand me on my crotch," she pauses, looking over to me. I try my hardest to remain neutral, but probably appear disgusted, so she can finish.

"He rips open the back of my shirt and just before he presses the searing hot metal into me he whispers "Now you will always be reminded of what you are. A lesbian." I'll never forget it but honestly it was nothing compared to that fire while being turned into a vampire. But it was painful by the standards that I was previously used to. They left me there limp on the ground. After I felt my phone ring I picked myself up and answered it. Valerie was wondering where I was. I told her that I was fine and just had to talk to a teacher. I pulled my gym shirt out of my bag and put it on so people wouldn't see. The problem was that the shirt stuck to it which made it burn more.

"I snuck in through her balcony. Her mom didn't know about us yet. I opened the door and fell to the floor, utterly exhausted. She forced me to tell her what happened and helped me clean and bandage it after I begged her not to make me go to the hospital. I pulled out her chicken soup even though she was better by the time I got there. She ended up feeding it to me," she finishes with a smile on her face.

"Did you tell anyone that it was Mark?" I ask.

"No, I figured that he was probably done with me and I really didn't want any more trouble. So I told Valerie that if he did something again that I would go to the police but he acted like I didn't exist after that," she explains, probably feeling my disapproving stare at her.

"Bella, you should've gone to the police and more importantly you should've gone to the hospital. But it didn't look like it got infected at any time so I guess I can't complain too much," I say defeated.

"I know. But Valerie took care of me. She changed the bandages 4 times a day for me for almost a month," she answers, shaking her head.

"Well it's a good thing too especially if she had to deal with your stubborn self," I tease.

"Now you get the oh-so wonderful job," she smirks.

"And I couldn't be happier," I answer giving a huge toothy grin.

"And I'm the dork," she teases, rolling her eyes.

I give her a light shove and a pout before turning around. I feel her approach and turn back to face her at the last moment, surprising her with a kiss.

She returns the favor. I pull back grinning like an idiot.

"We should probably go back now," I say reluctantly, as I notice that it's been about an hour since the sun went down.

"Alright," she drawls, jokingly.

I smirk and pull her close but not to kiss.

"You don't get anymore kisses until tomorrow because of your attitude," I answer seductively to tease.

"Guess I better make this one count then," she says slowly before closing the distance.

She smirks against my lips as I try to pull away at first but then decide to give in. I bring my hands up and slip them into her thick hair, pulling her just a little closer. She laughs against my lips. I grind my hips into hers and she goes from laughing to moaning very quickly. She wraps her arms tighter around my waist before I pull back.

"You know laughing while kissing means that I'm completely comfortable with you right," she smiles, innocently.

"We haven't even been on a date yet. You know I want to but I'm not letting it go too far … yet," I answer the pout on her lips.

"Well I definitely made it count," she smiles, toothily.

"Come on, love," I shake my head, laughing.

She laces her fingers with mine and we take off towards the house, feeling lighter.

"So what's it like being with a boy?" she asks after a full minute of silence.

I look over to her, slightly caught off guard.

_She does that to us a lot._

Yes but it is nice in a way.

_It's probably because she's very spontaneous and doesn't decide to do stuff until a moment before._

Probably. I think that makes it more fun though.

_Whatever you say._

"Well I suppose it's rougher, not as sweet most of the time, and more distant usually," I answer, thoughtfully.

"What do you mean usually?" she questions.

"Jasper wasn't like most guys. He was gentle, sweet, caring, and we shared everything. That's what I loved so much about him. Now that I think about it he was almost like a girl," I giggle at the end.

She laughs as well and nothing more can be said before we find ourselves standing on the porch of the house.

I give her a small smile before reaching out and turning the knob. We walk through and see all of the family sitting in the living room, talking quietly. We stand in the doorway for a moment, looking at everyone.

I smile sheepishly and close the door.

"Hey guys," I say. I look over to Bella and she nods.

"I guess I'll just go ahead and say that Bella and I are together," I say proudly.

"Finally!" Emmett booms. Everyone lets out a laugh.

"We're glad to have you with us, Bella. And thank you for making Alice happy again," Esme says to Bella, hugging her tightly.

Jasper gives me a smile and walks up to me. I smile as well and walk into his arms, letting go of Bella's hand. I wrap my arms around his torso.

"So I was like a girl huh?" he questions jokingly. I laugh softly.

"I told you that you were worth it," he whispers softly. I smile against his chest.

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**A/N: If you don't remember the last line in this chapter is from the last line of chapter 2. This is the end of this story but there is already a sequel started called 'The Last One'. It's about Bella as a vampire and what it entails. I hope you enjoyed it and reviews are always loved.**


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